


Sky Stage

by KujaTribal



Category: Takarazuka Revue RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-13
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-07 16:05:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/432973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KujaTribal/pseuds/KujaTribal





	1. Prologue: Welcome to Hell

Sighing the Senka-Star sat in the chair, skipping through pages and photos, sometimes taking a note and put it between the papers. The job was easy, way too easy sometimes. But because it was easy the Star tended to be very picky about what to do. Just the best for both themselves, the customers and the Lead. The Star, Hatsukaze Midori, called Gaichi, owned the club called 'Sky Stage', the most popular one in the surrounding area and known close and far. However the main business was not the grand hall in the front where the drunken, pubescent, lust-drunken, lonely and party-hungry people danced and satisfied their needs. The main business was made behind thick doors, closed curtains and hidden from the rest of the world. The entrance to that was a small door that was kept guarded all the time. Only a few people, chosen ones, picked out carefully by the owner, knew about this entrance that lead to a strip-club where all needs were satisfied. From drugs to guns, from pretty women to handsome men, from sex to company, in short everything the heart desired was possible in there. The people who were able to enter the club payed vast sums of money to be able to get in here, even more to get one of the desired girls, or boys, who exposed themselves on stage to the hungry eyes, and take them in a room for a few minutes to enjoy oneself. There was no limit, well not unless the limit 'money' was counted. No wonder that not only the high people of society, politicians, CEOs, rich and high class people, also the big boys of the underground liked to hang out at the club a lot to kill some time. Even though they way the underground was organized had changed over the years, the main structure was always the same. Aside from the Senka, where Gaichi was part of, there were five more groups, clans, that established for a few decades. They lead Tokyo from the dark, manipulated and pulled the strings from the back. They had one thing in common: they were cold-blooded and did everything to get what they wanted. Some more, some less cruel. The Senka had a special position since they had contact to each of the five other clans, having an immense power in their neutral position. The other clans each had another specialty they were famous for and made them powerful. Gaichi flipped through the papers, found an article about missing girls all over Tokyo.  
First, there was Hanagumi, the clan Senka was having most business with. It was one of two clans who first settled in Tokyo. They had specialized in human trafficking, selling them as slaves to the high class, inside and outside of the country alike, as one-way-sex slaves or, what was most important to Gaichi, to the Sky Stage. Once more the pages were flipped and there was another article about another shooting in the streets.  
The clan that made money by selling weapons to the clans or whoever desired it and had the money to do so was Soragumi, the youngest of the six clans. However for years people joined this clan like crazy, especially young people, who got sorted out in the process. Just below that article was one about a politician who died because of drug-overuse.  
Drugs and all that was associated with it was taken over by Yukigumi, from medicine, hallucinogens or all that was alike. On the back of the paper the article was panicking about robbed gems.  
Hoshigumi was famous for dealing with everything that did not belong to the drug-weapon-concept. Dealing with gems, diamonds, gold, silver but also rare animals and cars. The only thing that mattered was that it was illegal and expensive. Yet after a massacre that had included several other clans, it was the smallest one in existence and just kind of alive thanks to Senka helping them out so they wouldn't loose them as partner. Gaichi put aside the paper.  
There was one more clan that was never or at least just rarely seen in the papers. And if they were, they were never called by name. Tsukigumi, the most solitude of the five clans, were a bunch of assassins and murderers, their people's names known all around the underground. Not even Gaichi knew a lot about these people, not about how big they actually were, who they were associated with or what they were dealing with these times around.  
Even though the clans were so different from each other, they all had a basic structure in common. The Lead, the highest position within the clan, always was kept strictly within the family, was inherited by one heir alone. In contrast, the lowest babies within the clan were called Shinkos. Nothing more than sacrificial lambs, young and untalented. They were sacrificed for the more talented members, the Currents. They basically kept all the usual business alive and dealt with not so important deals. Although it was mostly the Currents doing all the work, the Shinkos got noticed by society through their acts on open streets, shootings and other acts that were against the policy of the clans, covered up by each of the clans alike. The most popular people in the underground, representing each clan, were the so called Top Stars, Stars for short. Gaichi was one of these Stars as well, most educated, equipped with the best weapons the underground had to offer, a lot of influence and were the most respected people in all of Tokyo. No wonder the Stars were usually children of the Leads, taking over the business after the former Lead passed away. Gaichi's Lead, Todoroki Yuu, who just got called Tom, was not related to her but her partner took over so that Gaichi could continue doing business with the Sky Stage. Hanagumi's Star, Haruno Sumire, called Osa, was the only one who had the status of Star and Lead alike, having a lot of freedoms with what Hanagumi did and double the responsibility. Tsukigumi, having another slightly different structure, had two Stars, Ayaki Nao who just got called Saeko, and Kozuki Wataru, getting called Wataru. Even though Wataru was the older one, Saeko was the official heir, god knows why. Yukigumi's Star, Mizu Natsuki, was the youngest of the Stars, just recently got the title, so there was no way to guess what Yukigumi would do in the future. Hoshigumi's often absent Star, Aran Kei, Touko for short, was talented, charming, but a bit lost due to the stress and responsibility to keep up Hoshigumi. Gaichi had a bit of a competition with the Soragumi-Star Wao Youka. Takako, the nickname of Wao, had a sense for separating cheap stuff from the good one and Gaichi always tried to trick Takako in some way, failed often in doing so.  
There was one spot for a few people between the Currents and the Stars, bodyguards for the Stars and the Leads who got called Guards. The Guards were just as talented, however since they were usually not part of the family, they had the short end of the stick.  
Gaichi smiled a bit and leaned back in the chair. All people around them would have said at this point that all the members, at least the high ones, were men since no one was getting far within japan as a woman. The Senka-Star would have just laughed and shot the person instantly. The Stars, the Guards, some of the Leads and a good bunch of the Currents were female, herself and Tom included. Tokyo ruled by a hoard of women who dressed up as men, playing their role perfectly. They dressed up in well tailored suites, spoke in a deep, seductive voice, and played their role of a perfect man. Perfect, seductive, handsome and just as deadly. One false step usually cost one's life around here.  
Once more Gaichi's eyes looked over the photos she got from Osa. There were a few pretty ladies, however she preferred to take a personal look on what she was about to buy. Then again she had to wait for Osa to show up at the Sky Stage once more, or at least one of his, it was easier to think about all of the underground as males, Guards or a Current.  
“Yurika!”, she called and her Guard stepped in. The young man was one of the greatest achievements she got in a long time. His full name was Makaze Suzuho and he was responsible for the club to be peaceful.  
“Yes, boss?”  
“I'm going to attend the show. If you happen to see Haruno around here, tell him I need to talk to him.”  
He. After all these years it still felt strange to say 'he' when you knew or at least guessed otherwise. However no one else knew about it, so Gaichi kept it as her personal secret. Maybe it became useful in time. Yurika just nodded and left the room. Then the Senka-Star took out one of the guns she had in the drawer of her table, put it in the belt below her jacket and pulled on her shirt once more to straighten it. Leaving the room she locked the door right behind her, walked down the dark hallway, past the stairs that lead to the more expensive part of the club, past another hallway that lead to the girl's rooms and headed for the larger, more open part of the strip-club. Her little favorite was about to give her show, to tease the men and once more make a whole lot of money for her. They called her Suzumi Shio, but that was just the name given to her. Gaichi had no idea about the real name, cared even less, but she sometimes heard the girls calling her 'Toyoko'. Whatever. The Senka-Star bought her once for an incredible low amount of money from Haruno, however Shio quickly developed on stage and was the most expensive girl in her posession. The Hanagumi-Lead still was angry about that. Shio had a golden voice, an even more beautiful body and knew how to move on stage. No one knew where she learned it however Gaichi didn't mind.  
“Good evening.” She knew that voice. The Star turned on her heel and watched her Lead come closer. “On your way to the show?”  
Gaichi simply grinned.  
“Where else should I go? After all I have to make sure that my pet is fine.”  
Tom simply laughed, got closer and leaned over to her.  
“Don't treat her too well or else I get jealous.”  
“Jealousy? You don't even know what that word means. After all it is you who always gets a free show from the girls.”  
“Just because you don't give me any.”  
Once more the Star shook her head and turned again, headed for the door and passed Yurika while going through there. Immediately the smell of alcohol, the thick air, loud music and a lot of other things simply hit her face and made her eyes tear for a second. Inside the men amused themselves with the girls on stage who were changed like other people changed their clothes, watched while they lay their long legs around the poles and danced to the tune. But not only the girls themselves were wanted by the men, also the very short pieces of clothes were sold to the high horses of society for quite an amount of money once they were worn by the girls. Luckily some of the girls were skilled in making clothes and that saved Gaichi a lot of money. However when they failed to work quick enough, they got replaced. It was just that easy.  
Beside the well known men that stared on what was hers, Gaichi noticed a few familiar faces between the others. The Stars of the different clans. Tom simply ignored them. He knew about them, knew, that they visited the club on a regular basis, but keeping in contact with them was not one of his business. He didn't want to deal with them either. Just two peope, Touko and Osa, were missing. The others sat scattered around the hall and Gaichi also noticed a rare face. Kozuki Wataru. Wataru was one of the people who rarely visited the Sky Stage in contrast to the little brother Saeko. The younger one of the two brothers basically lived in here, enjoyed a good show, but never booked one of the girls like others did. Gaichi was surprised that Wataru even decided to put on a suit instead of the usual skirt and top-combo he usually went with. Rumors said that he was a hermaphrodite, but Gaichi knew better. It had its charm, however the Senka-Star simply let the kids play. Gaichi and Tom sat down in a corner, watched as the room became dark and Shio's slim body appeared on stage.


	2. Camelia of the West

She just felt like shooting each and every person around her. Not only was everything already delayed, the police began being annoying again and her car broke down, it was also way too far to her estate to get a new one. Instead she made her Guard walk all the way. If something good didn't happen soon, there would be some dead people in the streets, strangled. Luckily she knew this city well and maybe a pretty girl crossed her way. Osa already knew well where to pick up the best products to satisfy her customers at least within Tokyo. She also liked to travel to foreign countries to get some exotic beauties in order to sell them for quite an amount of money. The Lead usually had her people to travel around for her, however she liked to check the quality of what she was selling to the high horses of society. Also Gaichi wasn't just taking any girl who just had a pretty face. They all had one, one way or another, but unless the girl, or boy, had no bite or special talents, the Senka-Star, who payed the most money and was the main pillar for her business, wouldn't buy them. Of course she had a lot of customers who would pay for the one-way-ware, yet that wasn't really worth the work. Having Senka as partner ensured Hanagumi a high position within Tokyo. As little bonus, Hanagumi took care of delivering and disposing of what they were selling, offered girls, boys, grown women, men, exotic, young, children and everything the heart desired. For a price. They were also popular with the chiefs of the police, so they liked to just ignored what Hanagumi was making money with. Delivering them to a lot of politicians as well, Osa made a lot of money, had a large amount of influence on what was happening in Japan and by doing so, regulating the overpopulation within Tokyo and the other cities. Still there were some cops that felt like playing the shining knight in a white armor, yet it was easy to deal with them. Osa pulled out one of the cigarettes she had in her pocket, searched for a lighter and put the cigarette in her mouth, lightening it and inhaled a deep breath. Usually she wasn't the type to smoke, however she needed at least something to calm her anger or else she would break someone's legs on her way. Luckily some of her best spies and agents kept the short arm of justice where they belonged. In their offices, scared and lonely. However one of the most famous agents of the underground, a former member of Tsukigumi, was Komu who was known as Asami Hikaru nowadays. He was one of the best assassins the underground had to offer and some of Osa's most precious members of Hanagumi were dead because of him. However around these days, all the chief did was hiding the clans' traces, destroyed evidence of all families alike and wasn't picky about who to help out. That was if the price was right. Komu was an incredible greedy person. Well whatever. Even Osa, who hated interacting with others, sometimes used the position Komu was in, payed him in order to be anonymous again.  
The Hanagumi-Lead inhaled a last, deep breath, then simply threw away the rest of her cigarette before turning on her heel and making her way over the street past a theater, the best Tokyo had to offer, left the main street and targeted a very small alleyway. While she waited she could as well do some work. Maybe there was someone who would get her a bit of money so she could buy a new car. Osa hoped for a talented girl or something alike. This special alley was one of the Lead's favorites. It led to even more alleyways, away from the theater, which formed a spider's net through the poor part of Tokyo. In this parts, a lot of talented homeless and beggars lived on the streets, still hoping to get 'discovered' and hoping to go on stage. Some of them danced, sang and waited out of frustration until it became dark, loosing their minds in the process, however this was not the good stuff. The Lead targeted those who stayed silent, hid in corners, cartons, ripped covers and were too scared to get out. That had been how she discovered Shio. Sky Stage's Queen was just a random girl she had picked up just to sell her and throw her away after the customer was done, however Gaichi had interest in her and bought her for just a few coins. Even though she usually controlled the girls more carefully now, Osa usually just took one girl with her, the most promising to keep up the hopes of those, who watched her doing so, let others spread rumors about how generous she was. What she sold had to be as unhurt as possible and it was easier if her ware was working with instead of against her. Yet most of them were just glad to get a roof over their heads, the rest was that desperate that they welcomed death with open arms. The very few to actually be smart enough to fight back were simply shot and disposed in the next best lake. No one missed those beggars. It was just that easy.  
Just as Osa stepped into the alley, ignored a screaming woman on the other end who thought she could sing, some of the poor looked out of wherever they were hiding, some at the fire turned around and one of the men, covered in thick layers of stinking clothes, got over to her, bowed down deeply. He was somewhat of the leader around her and knew who was new and what she was looking for. He also never questioned it and Osa gave him some of the change she had in her pocket or a few cigarettes or alcohol for him to get to these information. He wasn't buying anything different from drugs or alcohol anyway.  
“I... I'm so glad to welcome you back.”  
That stinking breath would surely kill her one day.  
“Get to the point. I don't want to waste my time”, Osa said with a deep, cold voice. Being a man was just in her veins. It was easy for her to just lower her already low voice even more, some decent make-up made her sharp face even sharper, her clothes covered up any clues that could expose her as a woman. For all of them, all she was was Haruno Sumire, Lead and Star from Hanagumi. Osa had no children, however she had replacement if something happened to kill her. Yet she had a fighting nature and no matter how many times she got shot, a short time later she was already up and well again, plus she knew how to handle a weapon as well as close combat. She didn't plan to let herself get shot by Tsukigumi or Soragumi anytime soon. She hated those two families with a passion.  
“Of course.” The answer was just a whisper, scared and clearly influenced by alcohol. “We got four new people. A boy and three girls. One of the girls is very ill and one of them ugly, so I suppose you're not interested in that.”  
“I will decide that. Where are they?”  
“Over there. Down that alley by the fire.”  
Osa didn't answer, handed a pathetic amount of money over to the man. It was just enough to buy a bottle of vodka but that was about it. That idiot wasn't spending it on anything else anyway. Men were such pathetic beings. Without payig any further attention she walked through the backstreet, took a look around. Nothing really ever changed here. The faces were always the same, only some of them were missing or new, however that was all.  
“Look. It's him again”, she heard from one of the older women behind a pile of dirt and some girls peeked out to catch a glimpse of her. Osa fought down a smile. For the people around here she was something like god. She had the power to take them out of their misery or the choice to simply let them rot here. However the Lead strictly payed attention that none of these people knew of the horrors that lurked outside of this backstreets or where she took them. Sometimes she forced some of the people to come back here, 'visiting' someone here and just telling how generous she was. No one of these beggars knew about Hanagumi or what they did, about the murder they committed and how they simply got rid of those who were unworthy. It made her job really easy since she could move around freely while those animals came out of their hiding spots so she could take a look at them. Osa ignored those. Those monkeys could die here. The Star wanted someone who had brains, talent and beauty. Those were the persons that had the highest prices and were most popular with the upper parts of society, yet those were smart enough not to come out when she entered the alleyway. The only way to get them was to pick them up as soon as they arrived here. While she walked past the rows of people she tried recalling what her customers wanted, however what she wanted was not available today. Sometimes this felt like shopping. However in the far back she noticed something that caught her eye. A very pretty, young lady, all wrapped up in a dirty old jacket that had a lot of holes in it and was barely keeping warm. She coughed a bit before pulling the jacket closer and Osa walked over to her. She was slim, small, but nonetheless beautiful. The Lead leaned down, put her hand under the girl's chin, she was glad that she wore gloves, and she shyly looked up. All dressed up she would get her a good price.  
“Don't worry. You will be fine”, she said in a deep voice and even managed to put on a small smile.  
“Boss”, someone said behind her and Osa got up before turning around, facing her arrived Guard. Misuzu Aki, codename Mattsu. Her fifth, yet the most promising. Osa picked him up just in this alley when he, who was still a young lady back then, still tried to make a name as magician. When she made her round she got surprised by some Soragumi-Currents but before she could even react properly, Mattsu had grabbed her weapon and shot them with just a few single shots. Amazed by this aiming skill and the skill overall Osa had taken her, made her a man and her guard. The young man rarely spoke, showed even less emotion but knew how to charm those around him when it mattered. Mattsu just had one, very huge and annoying habit: sweets. Preferably lollies. He always had one in his mouth, sometimes switched to some chocolate, however quickly changed back to his favorites. Osa turned on her heels, gave a quick gaze to the girl on the floor before making her way back. The Guard understood, bit whatever was in her mouth and Osa heard the piece of sugar breaking under the forces of his jaw. How Mattsu managed to still have teeth was still confusing. He threw away whatever was left of the lolly, yet once she blinked the young man had the next one in his mouth while walking over to the girl. The Lead watched Mattsu kneeling down to the girl while he got examined closely. The Guard took out another lolly, hold it in front of him and covered it just for a second with the other hand. When he released it, he had a hole bunch of those things in different colors, sizes and shapes in his hands. The girl seemed highly amused by this, giggled a bit and accepted the sweet that was offered to her. Once more the Lead turned away, made her way back until she heard a scream just a few meters away. It wasn't unusual that those beggars beat each other up, however this was not a man's voice and that caught her attention since the other one yelling was a man's. Osa hated nothing more than these fights. No one ever guessed that her, as the most important person when it came to human traffic, had a sense for justice. That, and she still hadn't broken any bones yet. She could at least take a look at it, so she walked over to where the scream was coming from and just when she went around the corner, she saw that stinking animal and a young woman on the floor. Usually women of this statue were nothing more than sacrificial lambs.  
“Come on, sweetheart! Sing for me!”, the man barked and raised his fist once more. The woman already had bruises all over her body, one of her trousers legs was ripped up to her hip and her shirt barely covered her upper body. “I said sing!”  
Osa was quicker. With just a few steps she was by the taller man, gripped his wrist before it hit the woman once more and held it tight. Surprised the man looked at her. He stank and had an half-empty bottle of vodka in his hand.  
“Didn't mommy teach you manners?”, she said while watching the man's clouded eyes.  
“Why does it matter to you?”  
“You must not beat a lady.”  
“That's none of your business! Fuck o-” Osa tightened her grip, turned the man's arm behind his back and held him by his shoulder, pulled up his arm until she felt the arm shaking under her force. “OUCH! Leave me the fuck alone!” Osa pulled the arm a bit more while forcing the bastard to stand in place. “Fine! Fine I'll go!”  
“There. Was that so bad?”  
She held him for a few more seconds before releasing him. Quickly he fled the scene and Osa watched after him before turning to the still shaking woman on the floor that was looking up at her with big, teary eyes. Why did that man want her to sing? There were a lot of singer in this backstreet, some very talented, yet this girl had been chosen to sing. The Lead took a closer look. The ripped shirt let one guess the small breasts and the flat stomach that lay below, the thin arms and legs matched her just as well as her face. She was almost beautiful. Just the bruises all over her body and the dirt that was stuck at her skin and her naked feet were somehow disturbing the picture. The small cut on her cheek was covered with shoulder-long, dark brown hair. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a second girl with her before it went to waste. Osa leaned forward, held open her hand. The woman flinched back, started shaking once more.  
“Come on”, the Lead said, more or less softly, yet managed to put on a small smile. “I'll get you out of here.” Still no reaction. Instead she went back a bit more. “Do you want to get beaten up by these drunk animals?” Then she looked to her side, shook her hand and finally grabbed her hand. Osa pulled her up and she almost fell against her, stood in front of the lead with shaky legs. She was truly pretty with those dark, deep eyes. “What's your name, darling?”  
“...Asako”, she murmured while staring on her feet. Luckily the Lead wore heels or else the girl would have around her high.  
“Fine. Asako then.” She made a gesture with her hand. “Come. We will go home and you can wash off that dirt.”  
Quickly she walked through the backstreet, felt the girl following close to her and halfway her Guard joined them with the other girl in front of her, leading her to the car that waited for them. So her car breaking had been worth it. With what she could get from selling these two girls she would be able to buy one or two ones. The smaller of the two girls just got in the car while Asako stumbled behind her, looked around nervously and grabbed her arm. It was easy to see that she was afraid of the men in that alley. With her condition, Osa was not surprised. Her eyes wandered off to Mattsu once more who just raised an eyebrow in confusion. She saw the question. The Lead usually didn't take the girls with her personally, simply chose them and sent others to pick them up.  
“We will take both with us”, she said, walked over to the car and opened the door to the back before looking over to Asako once more. “Get in.”  
The girl with the huge eyes seemed to hesitate once more, yet did as she was told and nervously grabbed the edge of her shirt. The smaller girl sat beside Mattsu in the front with the Guard driving, Osa sat down beside Asako in the back.  
“Where to go?”, Mattsu asked and looked at her in the mirror.  
“To the sanctuary. We missed Shio's show anyway and there's nothing else there I wanted to see.”  
Mattsu just growled silently before he started the car. Osa knew how much the Guard despised the sanctuary. It was their hideout where they kept the new girls, cleaned them and dressed them up before they sold them to different customers. Plus Hanagumi had several ones all around the city. It was also the place where the Star decided over what price she could get for the people there, found out, what talents they had. Actually it was nothing more than a sorting-station. The silent voice beside her cut her thoughts.  
“Thank you.”  
Osa had to listen twice before she could understand what the girl beside her said.  
“Excuse me?”  
“Helping me back then. They... the are always mean and brutal... no one helped me ever.”  
“You can thank me later.” The young girl looked up and the Star could see some tears in her eyes. Actually she was quite beautiful. She would look fantastic once she was dressed up. “Why did he beat you in the first place?”  
She looked down on her hands, nervously stroke her fingers and stayed quiet for some time.  
“I... I don't know?”  
Osa smiled inside. So the little lamb had secrets. Yet she had to notice that her voice sounded broken.  
“What happened to your voice?”  
“It's a bit husky.” A lot would more fit it. The girl was barely able to talk. “They forced me to sing all night and it was cold. They always do that.”  
“They did? Why?” Somehow Asako managed to catch her attention with that. It was unusual to just force one to sing all night, even for those jerks. Osa was not as talented as Gaichi when it came to just point out a person's specialty, however she knew how to read people and this girl was hiding something. Maybe there was more to her than she first thought. When the younger girl didn't answer she looked over to Mattsu. “We're driving home.”  
The Guard blinked and looked at her in the mirror. For a split second he seemed to choke on his lolly, yet regained himself pretty quickly. Normally the Star didn't take any girls with her, especially not to her private house. Sometimes Osa liked to take some pretty girls with her from the sanctuary, yet these had always the same characteristics. Asako had none of them. The Guard didn't talk back, just turned at the next best place and drove to the other end of the city.  
  
She still had no idea what made her go with that strange man she only had seen once before but it was way better than constantly get beaten up by those homeless people. Her arms and leg were still hurting and one of her rips surely was cracked. The younger girl who had been taken with her didn't seem to feel any better. No matter what was waiting for them, Asako was just glad that she didn't have to stay on the street any more. Yet she was unsure why her savior decided to take another route and head for another place yet she was not in the position to question his orders. Even when she was young, people always told her that she had to be quiet, pretty and don't question the elders just like a girl and soon to be lady had to be. However fate didn't mean well for her. Hopefully that would change soon.  
Asako stared out of the window when the care entered a garden just in front of a gigantic estate and she felt her jaw drop a bit. She expected something big, but not THAT big. It was beautiful. The whole place was drowning with flowers, the house itself clean and shining and it was the biggest one she had ever seen. The young man stopped the car just in front of the door and the two girls as well as the two men got out of the car. With still almost falling out eyes the older of the two girls walked a few steps away from the car, looked around with her mouth still open and smiled for the first time. Asako had a thing for pretty flowers. The smaller girl looked around shyly, pulled the jacket closer.  
“Get over here”, she heard from the driver's cold voice and the two girls swirled around. Asako watched as the man with the black gloves already was at the door. Better not letting him wait. Yet just as the two girls were about to reach the stairs that led to the main door, she heard a loud barking. Confused she looked around and past the smaller girl, who walked closely to her. Two dogs, she couldn't really figure out the breed but they reminded her of wolves, ran towards them. The smaller girl let out a shriek, jumped against her and Asako barely managed to hold her before she fell. The dogs stopped just a few feet away from them due to the chain that held them, barked loudly at the girls. The smaller girl was shaking in her arms.  
“Hey don't worry”, Asako said softly. “He can't do anything to us. See? He's chained.”  
She heard a loud whistle, turned around and looked at her savior. The dogs became quiet and pulled back, still looked upset. Carefully Asako took the smaller girl's hand and pulled her with her.  
“What's your name?”, she asked and still felt the younger one shaking.  
“Ai...”  
“So Ai-chan it is”, Asako said smiling and the smaller girl also managed to put on a small smile, coughed as they entered the gigantic hall so that the taller girl had to lay her head back. This so called house was more like a palace, gigantic, huge and sparkling white. The only color it had were the flowers but those were all over the place. In her whole fascination she barely managed not to walk into her savior. The taller man, well as far as he was taller, and the driver turned around.  
“Mattsu will bring you upstairs to the bathroom. You can clean yourself there”, he said and looked to who Asako thought was Mattsu, the driver. “Call a doctor. He will take a look at her. And tell the maids to prepare two rooms for them.”  
The younger man nodded and Asako heard a very ugly sound that reminded her of glass getting shattered. Yet it was way to quiet and apparently it came from Mattsu, who took a bite on whatever he had in his mouth. She started to follow him and Ai-chan, yet turned around on the spot once more.  
“May I ask something first?” The man with the gloves stopped halfway, looked over his shoulder, however stayed quiet. Did she say something wrong? She decided to go on as long as her voice was still serving her. “Your name. May I ask what it is?”  
One of the thin eyebrows was raised as the man turned around to face her fully, then stared at her for a few seconds. Asako was already afraid that she could get thrown out again, lowered her gaze, however when she heard the man laughing, she looked up. Even Ai and Mattsu became dead-quiet.  
“Osa”, he then answered. “How about we stick to that for now?”  
The taller of the two girls smiled and looked released. Shortly after she followed Mattsu but couldn't stop herself from noticing that irritated and confused look the driver threw over to his boss.  
  
Osa simply looked after the two girls, still smiled a bit. That girl, Asako, was fascinating in her very own way. For a girl with her delicate looks, she sure had courage. Not only didn't she even flinch when the dogs she held especially for keeping intruders away, came running to her, growling and barking, she even dared to ask her name. She was charming. The Hanagumi-Lead turned on her heel, made her way into the room and grabbed her favorite bottle of alcohol to take a sip. Maybe she should keep the girl instead of selling her? A new kind of company would be nice. The Lead had quite a few pretty maids and she loved using her free time to get her way with them, however Asako seemed to be different from them. She wondered what else the girl could to. It got lonely easily in here. Osa let her body fall into the seat, crossed her legs and leaned her head on the free hand while holding her glass in the other. A private show just for herself would be nice. Her smile turned into a grin when she sent Mattsu a message. She always called her guards like that. Mattsu reacted, stood in the room just a few moments later.  
“Get one those girls something pretty. I want them to join me for dinner.” The Guard nodded, turned to leave but Osa stopped her from doing so. “Say that girl... Ai-chan was it? Do you think she's pretty? Do you like her?” Mattsu turned around and nodded softly. “You may take her with you after dinner.”  
The Guard accepted the order, although Osa didn't really say it out loud, nodded and turned on his heel to leave the room while putting another clover-shaped lollypop in his mouth. The Hanagumi-Lead smiled once more. Usually she let those girls in the clothes she picked them up with, yet some lucky ones got not only a uniform, Osa had a thing for that, but some special, unique clothes she kept in a small room in the basement. The room contained short skirts, unique corsets, shoes but also jewelery and accessory. There were only very few girls she let put on these clothes and even fewer she actually liked seeing wearing these.  
  
When Asako entered the gigantic bathroom together with Ai, she first looked around with big eyes, turned on the spot to get a good view. She took a step in and squealed at first when her feet hit the warm tiles yet she giggled shortly after.  
“That's totally awesome”, the older of the two said out loudly, walked through the room. It had been a while since she saw a bathroom, even longer since she saw a shower but this was succeeding her wildest phantasies. The heard the smaller woman sneeze and cough behind her, so she turned around to face Ai. “I think you need a bath. A hot one.”  
She walked over to the small pool, there was no other way to describe it, and turned on the hot water before walking to the shower and stick her head in. It was just as big as everything in here and with all black tiles. She noticed that all the tiles had small flowers engraved at the edges. She turned to face Ai once more, raised her eyebrow.  
“What are you waiting for? You can't go inside the bathtub with your clothes on.”  
“I-I... uhm...” Asako didn't hesitate and already pulled on the edge of her shirt while Ai still pulled closer her jacket.  
“Are you shy? Come on. I have everything you have”, the older one said and the younger woman blushed while staring on her feet.  
“We... we don't even know each other”, she whispered. “I don't even know your name.”  
“It's Asako.” She grinned and turned around. “I'll simply turn my back to you, okay? Just get in the water.” Once more she looked over her shoulder, smiled softly. “And we just need to get to know each other, don't we?”  
Ai smiled just a bit, looked at her and loosened the grip around her jacket.  
“Thank you. You're nice, Asako.”  
The older one smiled once more and finally turned to the shower, simply threw off her clothes before getting in. Five minutes later, Ai also managed to get into the hot water, both enjoying the feeling of being able to clean themselves of the dirt that stuck to their skin. Asako rubbed it off her body, sometimes twitched due to the injuries she had. She also discovered a deep blue-violet mark on her ribs. That one surely was broken. At least her voice recovered a bit because of the warmth that surrounded her. The door got opened and she heard Ai shriek silently in the bathtub. Curiously she stuck her head out while her wet hair stuck to her face. Mattsu got in, silently put some clothes on a small chair without even looking at the two women and got out. Blinking she raised an eyebrow, looked over to Ai who was under water up to her nose and had a deep red color on her cheeks. The young man sure was strange.  
  
Later that day, Osa waited for the two girls in her dining hall, sat down on her preferred end of the table. The girls were still seeing the doctor she ordered. The doctor was a member of Hanagumi, unofficially, so he usually took care of all the members who had a high rank. He would keep quiet about Osa having mercy with these girls and so would Mattsu. Her Guard understood quickly that the girls were not to be harmed or sold just yet. The Guard opened the door for the two ladies, who stepped in close to each other, still looking around with big eyes. The younger one had a long, yellow pullover and a black skirt that reached her knees. Asako had a very short skirt instead, that showed her beautiful legs perfectly, and a wide shirt. It made her appear flat. She had to change that. However all that the Hanagumi-Lead could think of was 'Wow'. The longer she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of just keeping Asako for herself. She was beautiful when she was all dressed up and she seemed to have interesting characteristics.  
“Please. Sit down. You two must be hungry.”  
“I'm more like starving”, Asako said and once more the Lead had to smile. Interesting indeed. Her smile was fascinating, true and honest without any fear unlike what she usually was looking at. And now all cleaned up, with combed hair and pretty clothes Osa noticed what treasure she had dug up. That small patched up wound on her cheek was annoying, however that would heal soon. The younger one, Ai, also was pretty but much more frightened than her older counterpart. The two girls sat beside each other on the right side of the table, Mattsu to her left. Two more Guards stayed at the door.  
Osa was almost disturbed by how quickly the mood of the younger of the two girls changed. Asako, clearly impressed by the amount of food, even made her smile and laugh a little. During their dinner the Star watched the two of them closely and noticed how well behaved Asako was. Ai more or less clumsy oriented herself at the older one. Osa was even more surprised when Asako even managed to get more than two words out of Mattsu, even though his attention was more on the younger of the girls. Still fascinated by the whole aura of Asako's, she thought about how to proceed further. Keeping the girl for herself seemed more than fitting.


	3. Meet the brothers

“How long do we have to stay up here? It's fucking cold.”  
“Stop being such a pussy and do your work.”  
“How the hell am I suppose to do my work under these circumstances?”  
Growling the Star simply stared in the scope of her gun, fixed the point on the window she was staring at for at least half an hour. She ignored the two people arguing behind her but sometimes her two guards got on her nerves. If they weren't such valuable members of Tsukigumi and her two best friends she would throw both of them off the roof. Yuuhi and Kiriyan, the short forms for Oozora Yuuhi and Kiriya Hiromu, were two of the best assassins Tokyo had to offer, however sometimes they were loud, noisy and inattentive. Yet she trusted both of them with her life, did so on a regular basis by simply turning her back to them. She wouldn't have done it with anyone, especially not during such an important mission. The mission wasn't from Gaichi for once, it was from some politician. They got quite a bunch of money for killing one of his enemies, got almost double what they usually got since both of Tsukigumi's Stars were involved in this one or else they would never get this motherfucker. Luckily she, Ayaki Nao, got the better position on the roof unlike her older sister Wataru. Kozuki Wataru. Her sister was still down in that room she was staring at. Or her brother. That depended on who was asking. Saeko, that was her nickname, preferred to think of him as her brother since it was easier. Wataru was known mostly for being a hermaphrodite, however that was complete bullshit. He simply liked putting on tight, short dresses sometimes. Everyone in Tsukigumi was male, the females as well. There was no way they could have gotten this far as daughters of one of the most powerful men in Tokyo. Both of them quickly learned how to behave like men, played their roles perfectly. Saeko threw a quick gaze over her shoulder to her still arguing guards. The two of them also were females, yet while growing up with them she learned to think of them as male individuals. Sometimes this was not quite easy. They sometimes used the fact that they were still female to go hide quickly, change into skirts and dresses. Or, in this case, used it as cover. Kiriyan in her short dress was still shaking due to the cold wind, held her loose dress down but couldn't stop it from going up from time to time, revealing some cute panties with small dots on it. Saeko grinned and focused back on her scope.  
“What are you waiting for, Wataru? Get this fucker to the window”, she growled into the small microphone that was connected to an even smaller one inside Wataru's ear. Her brother, in high-heels, a tight top and a short skirt that revealed more than it hid, just showed up for a second at the window before returning to her spot. If they weren't able to do it now they would never be able again.  
“Give me five more minutes.”  
  
Wataru more or less happy stood inside the small apartment that was just across from the house where her brother was waiting for her to finally get that piece of shit of a man over to the window so they could get this over and done with. She leaned on the table, sighed softly and still heard the flow of water coming from the bathroom. What did this bug think he was? Usually the men were just waiting to get into her panties instead of going for a shower first. It took the Tsukigumi-Star days to bug the rooms of this oh so great politician, flirted with him and made him spend some time alone with her. But not only was she waiting for way longer than she wanted, she heard Kiriyan growling into her ear on a regular basis. She wore a small phone in her ear, almost invisible and covered up by her hair so she could give and get information from her brother and her guards. Kiriyan seemed to be freezing his ass off, however he did loose when he and Yuuhi drew straws to decide who was going to get into the dress. Plus Yuuhi wasn't fitting into this rag anyway. Wataru still would have preferred to spend some more time at the party however work was work after all.  
“Darling”, she called out, lay some suffering tone in her voice. “Don't let me wait. I need you so much.”  
“Just a second, sugar. I'll be right there.”  
“Sometimes you're such a slut, Wataru”, the Tsukigumi-Star heard in her ear and the older of the two brothers fought down a bad comment. Finally the old guy came out of the bathroom, still half-naked and covered in a bathrobe. Not only was this shithead ugly, it was like the nasty smell came out of every pore of his body. He wasn't her type at all. Not that she had a type anyway, yet she liked spending a night with some random, beautiful girl she met at a club or on the street. They weren't as particular beautiful as the girls Gaichi sold at Sky Stage but at least they were free of charge. Plus she wasn't getting into trouble when she shot the person afterward. Instead of making a face, Wataru smiled seductively and walked over to the window. She could feel how the bastard got a hard on just by looking at her. She turned on her spot, leaned against the window.  
“Take me over here. I really like the idea that we might get watched. At least let's give them a show”, she purred, pressing her back against the cold surface.  
“Well I'm not really into that...”  
Little son of a bitch. So she had to do it the hard way. Wataru just smiled some more, leaned down, she was incredibly flexible, and pulled down her panties from under her skirt.  
“Oh pretty please. I really like to do that.”  
She licked her deep red lips, leaned down a bit more to reveal an amazing view in her cleavage. She could see how the already tiny brain of that guy turned off and he stared at her perfectly small breasts. She expected him to start drooling any second.  
“Can't you get any lower? I can't see anything”, she heard it whispering in her ear. It was that amused tone her brother had when he was teasing her. At least Saeko had fun but not even the devil would make her take off more of her clothes. However it worked. The bonehead came walking over to her while throwing the bathrobe away. Wataru suddenly felt way more sick than before.  
“Fine. Daddy will take good care of you”, he murmured before pressing his body against Wataru's while she lay one gloved hand in his neck. She still tried to push herself as close to the window as possible to avoid body-contact but she felt the already sweating body against hers. Way to ruin her dress.  
“You're in my way”, Saeko whispered even quieter than before. She already felt the hands under her skirt, however held him by his wrists and smiled at him.  
“Let's switch places, love. I want you to have a good time”, she purred and made him step back a bit before walking halfway around him and pressing him against the glass. She heard a small whistle from her brother. The sign to end it. She leaned down a bit, pulled out a small card from the belt she wore around her upper leg just under her skirt and flipped it open.  
“What is that?”, the bastard asked and looked confused on the white card. It had Tsukigumi's symbol on the front of it.  
“Oh just something I got not so long ago. It says that you shall be eliminated for interfering with the clans and someone who's name I can not pronounce to save my life. However he is a politician you should know. He's Russian I think. A nice guy.”  
“S-so what... what does this mean?”  
“It means that I am here to kill you, you little dipshit.”  
The man inhaled some air to scream, however Saeko was way quicker. Glass broke and the now dead body fell right past her, blood running from the back of his head down over his ears and dripped on the floor. Wataru just growled a bit.  
“Couldn't you have hit him where he doesn't make such a mess.”  
“You didn't leave me much of a choice here, brother. Just hurry up. We meet at the elevator.”  
Wataru rolled her eyes once more, leaned down and caught one of the drops in between the card, put it back in the small plastic bag and back under her skirt before snatching her panties and putting them back on. Usually Tsukigumi didn't to these things. They hid back in the dark of the night before anyone noticed but in such important missions like this one the took evidence that they killed the right person. She heard the soft clicking in her ear when she left the room after tidying up everything that could have been evidence for her existence.  
  
Saeko closed the metal suitcase where she just put her gun, put her white hat back on and hurried down from the roof with Yuuhi and the still freezing Kiriyan right in her back. Her work was done and all that was left was getting out of the building without being seen or suspicious. Yet that was no problem at all. They took out the cameras in beforehand as well as the guards and there was one hell of a party on the ground floor. No one really cared who was going in and out of there. The three Tsukigumi-members ran through the hall that connected one building to the other, Saeko in the front, and they met Wataru while being halfway to the elevator. Saeko just grinned widely at her brother.  
“One word out of you and I break your legs”, her brother said and pulled on his skirt while the Tsukigumi-heir saw that cute, red pantie. The younger one always took every possibility she could get to tease her older brother.  
“You look just charming, my dear brother”, she said and Wataru took her arm while they waited inside the elevator to get down while Yuuhi lay his arm around Kiriyan. “Did you remember the card?”  
“As if I would forget about this”, Wataru sounded disappointed, yet Saeko just stared at the door.  
“Good. Daddy freaks out if we mess up this one.”  
“Everything went well so don't be such a pussy.”  
Saeko smiled as the door opened and she walked out with Wataru by her side, played as if they had a few passionate hours with each other and her brother got her drift by acting like she was downright drunk. Kiriyan giggled, separated from Yuuhi and came to her other side while Saeko put her arm around him.  
“Well my lovely kittens”, the younger Tsukigumi-Star flirted while walking through the crowd. “how about we continue our nice... conversation at my place.”  
“Oh Ryouga”, Kiriyan moaned a bit and got closer to her. Saeko had a lot of names while she was under people. Ryouga was one of them. “But I want to have some more attention from you. I barely got anything to do.”  
“You will get my whole attention, love”, Saeko purred and felt some jealous gazes from other men on her. However she provoked that. She wanted to be seen, yet being unseen for what happened earlier. Officially Tsukigumi didn't exist. The four of them left the building and got into the car that was waiting for them, Yuuhi on the rider's side, the three other people in the back. There was plenty of room there since it was half of a limousine. There Kiriyan first took his trousers and threw a jacket over her blouse.  
“Man I'm just happy to finally have something around my legs again. I still don't get why you like these things”, Kiriyan whimpered and Wataru simply giggled a bit. For her usually so manly brother, he could be such a girl.  
“I think those skirts suit you well. I think a dress would, too.”  
“No thanks. Not when I'm not ordered to.”  
Saeko laughed out loud.  
“Be careful what you wish for, Kiri”, she said and grinned at her guard. “Or else he will give you an order.”  
Wataru just grinned widely while Kiriyan got smaller on his spot.  
  
“Asako!”, the Hanagumi-Lead yelled while standing by the stairs. “Get down here already!”  
“Just one more moment. I'll be right there”, she heard from the second floor, followed by the sound of something falling on the floor. Hopefully that woman let her stuff intact. The girl was with her for a few days now, however the Star decided that there was no way she was able to stay inside here. Even though her personal house was pretty save, Osa felt that it was not save enough for the woman she started to desire so much. Plus Asako sometimes seemed to be pretty bored since the Lead refused to let her do work in her house. As beautiful as the girl was, she was pretty clumsy yet she seemed to know how to move her body just right but refused to show her all she was able to do.  
Sighing Osa walked over to her living-room. She had called down her little love some time ago, however she seemed to be changing ever since then. She sent away Mattsu and Ai-chan to have some private time with the older of the two new girls. Plus she wanted to tell her plan to her little pet, wanted to make it more comfortable for her with a few sweet cupcakes that she defended from Mattsu. She let herself fall on the couch, crossed her long, slim legs and stared at the door. Actually she had no idea why she took all the trouble just to please that girl. She was fascinating. Her wild, still calm atmosphere, her childish yet so adult behavior and her charms just made her desirable. And most of all she wasn't afraid of any of this. Not her, not the dogs outside since she even started to play with them, and not of the Guards and Currents who could break her neck at any moment. Osa was interested in how this would evolve.  
“I'm sorry. I had some trouble with my shoes”, Asako said as she finally entered the room. She put on another of those short skirts that Osa liked so much, a white blouse with some ruffles on it and some black high-heels. She was somewhere between hot and cute.  
“Weird. They should fit you.”  
“They do. But... I just can't get used to this.”  
Osa grinned a bit more when Asako walked over to sit down beside her. She seemed to be really fighting with those shoes.  
“Well you will get used to it, my dear.” The Hanagumi-Lead laughed a bit and handed the cupcake over to the girl. She squealed a bit when she took it, happily took a bite and licked the cream off of those perfect slim lips. The two of them sat beside each other in silence, enjoyed tea and some music while Osa continued to watch Asako. She was humming silently while she took one bite after another from the cupcake. She clearly enjoyed those sweets.  
“Do you like staying with me, Asako”, the Star then asked and looked closely at the girl while she turned a bit to face her. Some short moments she simply looked at her before putting on a wide smile.  
“Of course I do. You're so nice and so kind. No one ever has done this for me before. I would still be on the streets without you. And I would most likely still get beaten up a lot.”  
Osa grinned and felt almost honored by her words. She raised her arm, put it around her girl and pulled her a bit closer. Asako did so without complaining and let the Lead pet her soft brown hair. She knew how to take care of herself, felt soft and her smell was nice. The small white plate was still in her lap and she held it tightly.  
“You never need to go back there. However there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”  
“What is it?”  
The girl really was stunning while looking at her with those big, deep brown eyes.  
“I noticed how bored you are around my house. Also when I go back to work, I can't let you stay inside here, so you will stay with... a friend of mine. However his house is no ordinary house.”  
A soft grin lay on the Lead's lips while Asako crocked her eyebrows.  
“And... what is it then?”  
“It's a club. A strip-club to be exactly. You will stay there and go do some work there.” Asako simply clawed the plate on her lap while she stared down on it. She was uncomfortable. Osa forced her to look up again by putting her hand on her cheek, turning her head to look into her eyes. “Don't worry, though. No one will touch you there. The skirts might be short there but my temper is even shorter. When someone touches you there, they will get into trouble with me. All you will do there is dance.”  
A short break.  
“Nothing more?”  
“Nothing more. It is all I ask of you. You do enjoy dancing, do you not?” The girl nodded. “Just look at it as payment. You will be safe there, too. I don't want you to get hurt when I'm not around and my friend will make sure of that.”  
Asako still hesitated, took the Lead's hand and held it closely. She forced on a smile.  
“I... don't really have a choice, do I?”  
Osa grinned a bit.  
“No. No you don't.”  
She leaned down, stole a kiss from her little pet. Asako was hers and no one would take her away.  
  
Asako left the house, running after Osa when the sun was already setting, the surrounding was dipped in red and orange while the first hints of the night sky were seen on the edges of the skyscrapers. She still wasn't getting used to those cursed high-heels. She was tripping a lot, she wasn't even to walk properly on those stones that covered the ground in front of the main door and her feet were swollen and hurt after just two steps. Yet Osa liked seeing her in these heels and she was not in the position to complain. He had made it very clear she didn't have any freedom, even though he treated her very well. More like a beloved cat that was chained to the wall. She let him kiss her, yet pulled back when he made clear he wanted more of her than just a kiss. He had given her this displeased look which she had avoided but then he had sent her up with an angered voice. She wasn't ready for this, no matter how much she owed him. Asako never let herself get touched by another person like that. Still she would have preferred to stay at Osa's house, maybe as maid like Ai-chan since dancing in a strip-club wasn't really her first choice. Yet she loved dancing and she would just act through it. She would pretend to be what she wasn't. Thinking about just playing the role of a stripper eased her mind a bit. Her heart still pounded. Never before she went to one of those clubs, just heard stories about how they worked and how they looked like. She was still a bit scared of that.  
When she arrived at her savior, who waited by the car with another man by his side, she noticed that in her heels, she was a bit taller than the man. Still she smiled and didn't show that she was afraid of what was about to come. Plus she was shivering because of the cold air that blew around her bare legs. Curse those short skirts. The other man who Asako was unfamiliar with was a bit taller than Osa himself, wore a black suit and from the breast-pocket, there was the tip of a bright orange tissue. He opened the door when Osa turned to face her.  
“This is Ranju Tomu. Romu for short. He will come with us since Mattsu is still busy.”  
The taller man simply nodded over to her before he let Osa get into the back of the car where Asako joined him shortly after, gaining a strange look from Romu. He surely would have been charming when he wasn't looking as grumpy like he was then. Like that, he was simply scary. Just as Mattsu, the other man didn't speak while they drove through the city, so she proceeded in trying to remember the way. However it was already dark, the streets looked all the same and Romu took a few turns. Finally they stopped somewhere in an alley, where Romu took a few moments before opening the back of the car and letting the two of them get out of the car. He preferred to stay close to Osa while Asako took a few steps to gain a better look at her surrounding.  
“Where are we?”  
“We are still in Tokyo. Don't worry. But we need to walk around two minutes. It is impossible to park close to the club.” Osa offered her his arm. “Please. Accompany me.”  
She took the offering, walked close to Osa as they passed two or three buildings before making another turn and entering a dark alleyway and they seemed to target some small stairs that led in one of the buildings. It seemed around three or four floors tall, was one of the smallest around. However when Asako lowered her head again, looked down the alley, four more people went around the corner. When they stepped into the light for a short moment, she was able to see two with deep black suits, one with a white and the tallest of them wore a purple one. The rest was around the same size.  
“Boss...”, Romu growled silently as they got closer. The group seemed to head to the stairs as well. Osa simply made a gesture and stopped the taller man from talking further. Asako gulped. Something in the back of her head told her that there was tension rising. Both groups stopped around two meters apart from each other by the stairs and Osa smiled, let go of her and opened his arms while taking a step towards the four.  
“It is a pleasure to see the brothers joined like this. And a pleasure that you decided to wear a suit for a change”, he said with friendly voice, yet obviously acted. He looked over to the tallest of the four. Osa's voice was filled with irony. The man in the white suit just had a thin grin on his lips, giggled a bit and pulled his hands out of his pocket.  
“I like change”, the man in the purple suit said. Something was fishy about this man. “And I do enjoy a good show. I heard Gaichi thought about something new tonight.”  
“Charming”, Osa said, grinned a bit wider while crossing his arms. In the corner of her eye Asako saw how the smaller of the two men in black stepped close to Romu, who stood halfway in front of Osa.  
“Talking about charming...” She turned her attention back to the man in the white suit. She noticed then how his eyes were glued to her. “Why don't you introduce your lady to us?”  
Except for that one man, Asako felt the other three basically stripping her with their eyes, felt even more uncomfortable and out of place when she already did, ignored Romu's angered whispers. It was one thing to get stared at on stage, another being stared at in front of three men. Osa threw a gaze over his shoulder, turned back shortly after.  
“Sena Jun. However I missed the point where this concerns the two of you. She's not available.”  
“Beautiful”, the white dressed man said, smiling even wider. He still had his hat more or less pulled down, just as the other three. Asako was confused about the fake name, yet didn't say a word. Osa would have his reasons giving her a fake name. Just as the taller of the two brothers, she figured it was them since the second black-dressed person didn't say a word, started talking again, he was interrupted by Romu who cursed out loudly. The smaller man jumped back, had the cloth that Romu just had in his pocket, in his hand, giggled.  
“You little fucker! Give that back!”, the suddenly very terrifying man cried out, however the smaller one just laughed out loud, mocked him by giving him the middle finger. Romu reached into his jacked and pulled out a pistol with an impressive caliber. The smaller man reacted by pulling out his own from under his jacket from the back of his trousers, pointing it on Romu. Asako felt how she got pale, stumbled back a few steps before she tripped and fell down. Before she was even blinking properly, the other men were pointing the barrel of some shining guns on each other. Silently they stared at each other, but after a few seconds of unbearable silence where the tension could have been cut with a knife, Osa as well as the two men in purple and white grinned, burst out laughing and putting the pistols back under their jackets. All except Romu and the other man with the orange cloth who were still pressing their guns at each others head.  
“Kiriyan”, the man in white said strictly, but still grinning. “Be nice and give him back his cuddly blanket.”  
So Kiriyan it was then. Said man pressed his forehead a bit more against the barrel of Romu's weapon, grinned shortly after and put the cloth back into the taller man's pocket before pulling back and putting his gun back where he had pulled it out. Asako only had a few seconds to see that on the orange cloth there were some embroidering that looked like small pink bears and some flowers that looked like orchids.  
“Who made this for you? Your mum? Or your grandma?”, Kiriyan said before pulling back and turning his back to Romu. Romu simply growled but on Osa's very angry glance he put back the gun under his jacket.  
“A bastard-son as you are wouldn't even understand.”  
The smaller man turned, breathed in to give contra, however the white-dressed man's voice interrupted him before he could.  
“Kiriyan! Heel! We're not here for trouble!”  
Asako, still sitting on the ground, watched as Kiriyan threw another glance over to Romu before he turned and followed the other three men went towards the stairs and disappeared behind a black curtain. Osa stepped close to her, offered her a hand and got up on her trembling legs.  
“W-what... who... who was that?”, she stammered. Osa's smile let her become quiet.  
“No one to interest you. Don't talk to them. You are none of their concern.” Asako understood the order Osa gave her. She wasn't allowed to ask even if she wanted to. But who would talk back to a man who had a gun placed close to his heart? “Come on.”  
The young woman threw a quick glance over to Romu who's eyes were still flickering with rage while adjusting the cloth in his pocket before he accompanied them through the door. Asako held herself a bit on the slightly smaller man. Her feet hurt since she slipped pretty badly and she was still shaking. Inside, her jaw dropped a bit. It was so different from what she expected. The smell of sweat and hormones was filling the air and the music was loud, but it was not quite as annoying as she thought it would be. The room was gigantic, a grand stage at the end with two catwalks leading through comfortable couches and armchairs and a bar in the corner. Just the poles were showing clearly what this club really was about. On stage, a few very good looking girls were dancing on said poles, writhed with just little pieces of clothes on their bodies.  
  
Saeko, her brother and their guards already sat down on a free table close to the bar in the far end of the club. The Tsukigumi-heir still was angry about what happened outside, was not obviously raging but when she was sure no one could hear them, she turned to face her guard.  
“What was this about, Kiriyan? I told you a few times already that you shall not make any trouble around here!”  
She kept her voice low. It was Gaichi's orders that, while being on his ground, the clans were not allowed to cause any trouble. It was a neutral zone after all.  
“But boss... he deserved it. And it was funny”, Kiriyan said grinning, but his grin fainted when he looked into his Star's eyes. “Sorry...”  
“I don't need your excuses. Do as you're told. I don't want to punish you.”  
The guard became a bit smaller in his chair.  
“So who was that cutey with Haruno? I never saw her before”, Wataru said before taking a sip from his drink.  
Yuuhi, who sat beside Wataru, decided to interfere while still watching the surroundings. They may were on neutral ground but that didn't mean that they could be careless. “I thought he said Sena Jun.”  
“Oh please”, Saeko groaned while taking her hat down. “You don't really believe he would tell us her real name when he brings her here personally.”  
“Her clothes were expensive, too.”  
Saeko turned to his brother.  
“I figured you would notice that.” Wataru simply grinned at her. “So there are only two possibilities. The oh so cold 'Camelia of the West' finally found himself a lady or he wants to sell her for one hell of a lot of money to Gaichi.”


	4. Do as you are told

The little confrontation with the Tsukigumi-brothers angered the Hanagumi-Star a lot, even more than she was showing that moment. She had to punish Romu once Asako was out of sight. Osa didn't want her girl to get in touch with anything that had to do with the clans or what Hanagumi was doing. Actually she knew that this was impossible since Asako was bound to notice the clan-wars sooner or later. Still she didn't want it to be so sudden.  
With the young woman at her hand, the Lead walked though the front part of he club, ignored the girls on stage, the music, the stench in the air, the people grieving around her and headed past a few tables while strictly sticking to the wall, past the bar towards a door behind a curtain. In the corner of her eye she saw the Tsukigumi-Stars with their guards while Ayaki didn't look very pleased while talking with his guard. Silently growling she pulled Asako with her through the door and the girl almost fell over her own feet while rushing after her. Just as the main hall lay behind them, the three almost walked into another Guard, Yurika.  
“Good evening, Haruno”, he said and got up from his chair. “Glad to see you. You know the drill.”  
Once more, Osa growled.  
“Is Gaichi even there? Or is he fucking his Lead at home again instead of working properly?”  
“Watch your tongue, Haruno. You're not in Hanagumi-territory. He's in his office. The Lead is with him, so knock before you get in.”  
Yurika's eyes wandered from Romu, who joined Osa's side while pulling out the guns from under their jackets and placing them inside a box, over to Asako who stood on one foot. The girl looked a bit lost on her spot, looked down a second hallway that led towards the rooms where the hired girls served their clients. There was another entrance for that since Gaichi liked peace and quiet, so the entrance they got in was strictly for the most important people of the different clans. Still it was no wonder that the place was filled with Guards and Currents, all guarding the girls and their boss. Osa reached for the knife in his pocket when she looked over to Asako once more.  
“Sena. Get over here”, she ordered and the girl pushed herself past the Guard who watched her closely. A bit too closely.  
“So and who is she? It's new to me that you do business personally.”  
“First of all: she is not part of this. She is mine. Secondly: because she is mine, you will take your fingers off of her. Just because you are part of Senka now doesn't mean you are something better than an Hoshigumi-Shinko. I will still shoot you if you dare touching her.”  
The Guard's grin was whipped off his face when Osa started using this voice again. Just the once involved in this knew that a few promising Hoshigumi-men were hired by Gaichi after said clan was basically whipped of the face of Japan. Yurika let them pass but was grinding his teeth while looking after them. Asako walked close behind her, Romu behind the girl, while they walked through the quiet hallway. On the far end, there was a stairway that let upstairs. The most important girls the Sky Stage had to offer resided there, the so called 'Princesses' together with their 'Queen'. However before Osa had the chance to target one of six doors, Asako pulled her sleeve.  
“Osa?”, she whispered and the Lead stopped on her spot, turning to face his kitten. She had fear in her eyes.  
“What is it?”  
“I... I don't like it here... Can we go home? People look at me strangely...”  
The Hanagumi-Star stopped her from talking by raising her hand. Yet she had a point. Even if she entrusted Asako with Gaichi, there was no way she could make sure the Senka-Star would just sell her to the next-best customer or, even worse, one of the Guards fell over her. Luckily she already had thought about that. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a silver earring that had a flower engraved on it. Osa wore a similar one on her right ear. Each of the clans had their very own accessory-thing going on, so Hanagumi's earrings were nothing special. They used it to identify Stars and Leads alike in a critical situation and to mark those who were favored a lot by a clan. Tsukigumi also had earrings, but thinner ones on the upper part of the ear. The ring held a very small gem that had a small moon engraved on it. Hoshigumi war really similar to that, but instead of a moon, they had a star on it. Yukigumi had a small piercing, a green one, at the inner part of the ear. The rings of these three clans were covered up most of the time by hair or the ear itself. Osa was still unsure what Soragumi had since she hated that clan with a passion. Their Lead was simply annoying, the Star pathetic and way too young.  
“I want you to wear this”, Osa said and placed the earring on the soft, thin hand of Asako's. “No one will harm you when you wear this.”  
“What? Why?”  
“It marks you. It shows everyone you are mine.”  
Asako took a few moments to look at the ring carefully, turned it in her fingers and Osa tilted her head a bit while she waited for the girl to put it on. She had already seen the barely noticeable earlobes she had.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Don't you trust me?” No answer. “Put it on.” Once more the girl hesitated, yet did how she was told. Softly she squeezed her eyes, let out a small whimper when she forced the earring through and closed it shortly after. Osa lay her hand under her chin, turned her head a bit to look at the ring. “It fits you perfectly.”  
The younger one smiled a bit.  
“Thank you...”, she whispered and the Lead pulled back her hand, stepped closer instead and put a small kiss on her kitten's head.  
“I will get you some pretty ones soon. I'm sure you will like them. Now let's go. I'm in a hurry.”  
Asako agreed with a silent murmur. She seemed to learn that there was no arguing with the Hanagumi-Star. The girl had to like what Osa got for her even though the Lead was pretty sure she really liked it. Osa turned on her heel, finally headed for the door she was aiming for in the first place and knocked two times before simply opening the door without getting invited. She was in a hurry after all. But shortly after she stood in the door, raised one eyebrow. Gaichi sat on his desk, his shirt halfway ripped open and over his shoulders, a just too well-known head on his neck and biting him. The Senka-Star moaned out loudly, forced his hips closer to the Lead, who was about to take his Star on the table. The Lead's hand with Senka's accessory, a diamond ring on the middle-finger, lay on Gaichi's more or less bare back.  
“Excuse me”, Osa said out loudly and Tom looked up while Gaichi threw a quick glance over his shoulder. “Did I come at a bad time?”  
The Senka-Star pushed Tom back, who was still licking his lips, got up from the desk and started buttoning up his shirt and his pants, which were most likely opened. His reddened cheeks indicated that he was more than angry while Tom let himself fall into Gaichi's chair, a wide grin on his face. The Senka-Lead had his very own humor.  
“I hope for your sake you have a good excuse or I'll shoot you on the spot”, Gaichi growled as he turned, more or less done, on his spot. Asako hid even more behind her, surely blushing up to her ears. Osa was used to this, so she wasn't touched by all of this at all. It wouldn't be the first time she saw a man having an erection even though it would be kind of amusing to see Gaichi like this instead of the boys she usually sold.  
“Stop sulking. I told you I would come personally. And you know I don't like knocking.”  
“I should rip your tongue out for that!”  
“Calm down. Let's get this over with and you can go back screwing each other or whatever it was you were doing.”  
Gaichi still growled when he pulled down his vest when he noticed the girl hiding behind Osa.  
“Is that her?”, he asked, pointing on Asako. Osa agreed, watched as Gaichi came closer to take a look at Asako, but walked past them. “We'll talk at the other office.”  
Once more the Lead took the girl's hand, took her with her when they walked across the hall where Gaichi unlocked another door that led to the office the Star used for Hanagumi-business. Senka was strict separating the clans they dealt with, so Gaichi had another office for each of the five clans including the main one where he was usually found. There he didn't even walk around the table, simply leaned on it. Romu stayed in front of the door.  
“I hope you didn't forget about the deal, Gaichi”, Osa said and the Senka-Star crossed his arms after fetching one of the papers on the table.  
“Do you have my money?”  
“I already payed you for this month.”  
“I'm talking about the next few.”  
“Let that be my problem. Just make sure you do your part and you get your money.”  
“Whatever.”  
  
Still enraged, Gaichi looked over to the Hanagumi-Star. Not only did Haruno burst in at the worst possible time, now he acted like he owned the place and as if nothing happened. That was reason enough for her to just deny that plead he had, however when he saw that cute girl that was still hiding behind the Star, her mood lightened a bit. It was amusing to see how she was barely able to stand on those high-heels and how Haruno had dressed her up like a doll. She simply walked past Haruno to take a better look at the girl while walking around her. She was a bit taller than her and Haruno.  
“Do I at least get to know the name of my 'guest'?”, the Senka-Star asked while walking around the kitten and stopping behind her.  
“Sena. Sena Jun.”  
Gaichi noticed that very quick glance the girl shot over to Haruno. Not her real name for sure, yet no one cared for that around here. They just had to look pretty and do as they were told.  
“Adorable”, Gaichi mumbled, crossed her arms and rubbed her chin a bit while her eyes found that very cute butt of the girl. She had very long, slim legs, but wide shoulders, yet that was irrelevant. She would have loved to have a feel, restrained in doing so since that pet's owner was still around. It was easy to see that Haruno would rip her hands off if she would dare lay a finger on the bunny. Too bad. “So... why don't you sell her again? Now seeing her, I would pay well for her.”  
“Excuse me?!”, Sena, suddenly quite angry, turned around and Gaichi raised one eyebrow in surprise. Someone wasn't behaving very well. “Who do you even think you are?! I am not for sale!”  
“Sena!”, Haruno called out and the bunny looked over to her master before she looked down at the floor. “Behave. I don't want to hear anything from you anymore.” The girl gulped, but nodded slightly. Haruno turned to Gaichi once more. “As she said, she is not for sale. Enough that I allow you to let her dance on stage.”  
“Can she even dance?”  
“She will because I say so.”  
Gaichi simply laughed a bit. So the Hanagumi-Star had no idea if she was even good or not. He surely just wanted her to learn so he could get a private show. Then he would get his wish.  
“Fine. Shio will take care of that.”  
“I don't care for that. Just make sure that no one will touch her except me. I let her stay with you, but she is still mine.”  
“Well aren't we touchy today?” Gaichi looked over to young-Sena. “We will get along, don't we, bunny.”  
Sena once more looked over to his master who nodded slightly. The girl agreed with a whispered 'yes'. Cute. Just too cute. The Hanagumi-Lead stepped over to the girl, whispered something in her ear that Gaichi was unable to understand before putting a kiss on her temple and walking past her, throwing another glance over to the Senka-Star.  
“Enjoy the show, Haruno”, Gaichi called out after the Hanagumi-Star before turning to Sena once again.  
  
Asako watched Osa leaving, bit her bottom lip. What was that about selling? And what the hell was going on anyway? She was confused, angry and frightened at the same time. It was one thing to dance, one thing to strip but getting sold like that even if she had the guest-status was something completely different. She wasn't dumb. Still a bit lost she raised her hand and touched the earring that hang on her still hurt ear. She just hoped it wouldn't get infected.  
“Great”, the older man suddenly said and stopped her thoughts from going on any further. “Now that this is over with, I will show you your room. You better remember the way. I won't show you again.”  
Asako stumbled after the man when he left the office, talked to a young man standing in the hallway. Said man hurried away and Asako took the moment they talked to take a closer look at her host. Now that she was paying attention to it... was that man wearing heels? Well heels that were above the average. She didn't notice immediately since the trouser legs almost reached the floor, covering up most of the shoes, but he was wearing quite some heels there. She already had noticed with Osa and Mattsu, Romu as well, but she always had thought that was just a thing at Osa's home. On second thought, seeing heels on this man wasn't that surprising. She heard gay men liked this stuff.  
The room Gaichi brought her to wasn't as big as the one she had shared with Ai-chan in Osa's house, but nonetheless impressive. It had a big bed with black sheets on it, a big cushion, a wardrobe and dressing table she only knew from old Hollywood-movies. The walls were held in a soft blue color with light accents and gave the room its very own charm. Just as she wanted to take a step in, the older man grabbed her shoulder, pulled her back roughly and held her on her spot by putting his arm around her shoulders. Feeling the man in her back made a shiver run down her spine and she froze on her spot while grabbing the arm around her shoulders and held herself since she almost slipped again.  
“Listen to me, bunny. Just because you're Haruno's little pet doesn't mean you get any privileges. You will work just as hard as the other girls in here.” The man's voice was just a whisper and Asako felt herself shaking. “You're just lucky that you don't need to serve all the needs a customer has. That doesn't stop me from charging some extra money for you, bunny.” His second hand on her belly went downward and his fingertips slipped a bit under her skirt. Asako tried to avoid it by getting lower, however Gaichi held her in her place. “You will give some shows. Privately. And if a customer says 'dance', then you dance. When he says 'sing', then you sing. When he says 'strip', you strip. And when he says 'fuck yourself' you will put your fingers in your panties and do what he asked of you.” She panicked as the man pushed his hand further into her panties, his fingers brushing dangerously close to her most sensitive body-part. She tried to stop him, yet her still quite weak body was no match for the man's. Asako whimpered a bit when Gaichi tightened his grip once more. “And one more thing: if you dare to tell one word to Haruno, I will personally break that pretty little neck of yours and will feed one of my Shinkos to Haruno's rage. Don't mess with me, Hanagui-bunny. It worked with his last princess and it will work with you.”  
There it was again. Hanagumi. Shinko. She had no idea what this meant and still people around her used these words. Once more Asako whimpered in pain when Gaichi grabbed her hair, pulled out his hand out of her skirt and basically threw Asako across the room. She fell down in front of the bed, held back a cry when her eyes filled with tears and she felt the pain in her foot increasing. Before Gaichi had another chance to get close to her in order to give her another 'lesson', it knocked at the door and Yurika stuck his head in.  
“Watcher”, he said and Gaichi turned around. “Shio is here. Shall I let her in.”  
Gaichi simply nodded and turned on his heel once more and another woman stepped in, half naked, but beautiful. She wore a bright blue bathrobe, had very short, blonde hair but her make-up was already worn down and needed refreshment.  
“Why did this take so long?”, Gaichi asked and growled slightly.  
“I... had some problems with a customer. Teru threw him out.”  
The man simply chose to ignore it, nodded over to Asako who still sat on the floor, only slowly got up. She still couldn't walk in these shoes and she feared that she had hurt herself while she fell. Her foot was aching, however she could still stand.  
“Take care of her. You have half an hour.”  
Asako just turned her head a bit when Gaichi left her and the woman, Shio she guessed, alone in the room, sat down on the bed and pulled the heels from her feet. She bit her bottom lip while doing so. It was a bit swollen, yet she knew she had to bite through. She wouldn't let herself appear weak. That could be her doom after what Gaichi just had told her.  
  
Toyoko resisted a comment when her boss, more like her owner, walked past her and let the door slam shut. Someone had a bad day there. Surely he had been interrupted during his 'quality time' with Tom again. He always was in such a bad mood when it happened. Usually he at least asked for her well-being, after all she was bringing the most money in. She simply shook her head, looked over to the other girl who was more or less elegant pulling up her foot to take a look at it, revealing a not so bad look under that very short skirt. Toyoko raised an eyebrow before walking over to the chair and putting one of the costumes she brought with her on it.  
“Don't worry about him. He always does that to the new girls. Well usually the Guards give these orders around here, but oh well.” She said and looked into the mirror. She needed to put on some fresh make-up before going on stage once more. “He won't come back as long as you don't give him a reason to. Just behave and he will be your best friend.” She sighed a bit. She would have liked to take a shower before she got down there, but when Gaichi called they had to show up immediately. Quickly she took the second costume, threw it over to the girl. “Here. Change. And hurry a bit.”  
Toyoko grinned a bit when the girl held the costume in front of her, looked at it critically. The evening was once more themed. A difference Gaichi came up with to avoid boredom for the costumers. After all, they were high-class people and payed quite some money to get amused in here. Plus Gaichi seemed to love those roman-themed evenings. While adjusting her make-up, she watched the girl in the mirror change, watched while she put down her clothes. “Oh and one more thing.” Toyoko turned on her heel when the girl was only in her underwear. “Take off the bra. The customers don't like that.”  
“Why should I bother? I'm just a guest in here.”  
“I tell you why, love.”  
“Sena.”  
“Is that's what he called you? Cute. Well then, Sena, listen to me for a second. In here, it is all about how expensive you are. The lower the price for you, the more disgusting your costumers will be. Would you prefer to dance in front of a drooling pig or just have a chat with an handsome young man?”  
Sena hesitated, but then reached for her bra, putting it down and revealing more of her upper body. She was pretty, that was sure. She was thin, had a nice figure and the costume fitted her perfectly without revealing too much of herself.  
“Can I ask something?”, Sena asked and looked over to her.  
“Shio.”  
“Shio. Can I ask you something? You seem to know a lot in here.”  
“I do. Go ahead. Ask.”  
“Hanagumi. Shinkos. Watcher... can you tell me what this is all about? I don't understand and I feel like I was left out of something.”  
Toyoko raised her eyebrows, pushed herself off the desk and tilted her head. Didn't anyone tell her? When the girls got clothes and somehow got involved with the clans, this was usually the first thing they learned. Well the basic structure it was. It was important for them to know that they should move carefully around the Stars and Currents.  
“I thought you stayed with Haruno. Didn't he tell you?”  
“I wouldn't ask if I knew.”  
The blonde laughed just a bit.  
“I guess you're right.” She turned a bit and pulled back the chair. “Sit down and I'll make your hair. It's best to tell you while we prepare.”  
Sena did as she was told, sat down in front of her and Toyoko let her hands run a bit through the other woman's hair. It was really soft and the blonde wondered how she got it that way when she really came from the streets. Toyoko herself had a bay wreath in her hair and she decided to pin up the other woman's hair with some golden hairpins.  
“Well I guess you're smart enough to notice that this is not a part of the official society. It's called the underground. The people ruling here basically rule all over Japan. The clans have their center here, in Tokyo. We have six clans: Senka, who ones this place and make business with the other five, Hoshigumi, Soragumi, Tsukigumi, Yukigumi and Hanagumi.”  
“And Osa is Hanagumi?”  
“Even more. He's Hanagumi's Star and Lead. The Lead has the highest position within each clan but it's the Stars, mostly the Lead's children, who really run the businesses here. They have their protectors, the Guardians or Guards, always with them. They are just a bunch of skilled men, but no one knows for sure where they come from. Not all of them were Currents before they became Guards. They just showed up.”  
“Who are the Currents?”  
“People who belong to one Clan, but are not quite good enough or close enough to the family to become Guards. They usually run the errands.” She pulled out one of Sena's hairstrands. “You did hear about people shooting each other on the streets?”  
“Yes. Why? I thought these were only gangs.”  
“Usually they are just the sacrifices the clans make. They call them Shinkos.”  
“I see. So it's the Stars that are the most important people.” She looked at the girl in the mirror. “I can figure that it's the Stars that really set the price for a girl in here.”  
Toyoko grinned a bit. That girl was actually pretty smart.  
“They do. As soon as they notice you and as soon as they start hiring you, your price will go up and you gain fame in here. I doubt that Gaichi will put you in the Hanagumi-Princess position very soon, no matter how much you are in favor.”  
“Princess?”  
“Oh that has nothing to do with the clans. It's something Gaichi came up with. It's basically a score-system. The higher you score, the more important you are in here and the higher your price is. I have the highest score, so they call me 'Queen'. The Princesses are six girls around the same score directly below me. Each of the Princesses is ordered to one Clan. They are something like the favorite of each Star.”  
“So they are nothing more than pets.”  
Toyoko sighed a bit.  
“Don't think too hard about it. We need to get ready.” Sena got up from her spot and turned to face the blonde. “When we go on stage, you will walk past the Princesses and follow Mirio and Nene to the far end of the stage, past them to the pole close to the bar. I suppose Haruno will sit there. Let Nene tell you what to do. She has been here a while. And don't be afraid of Mirio. She's... strange.”  
“Why strange?”  
“You will get to know her.”  
A knock at the door prevented Sena from talking further. Another one of Senka's Guards went in, closed the door behind him. Toyoko knew him pretty well since her personal Guard despised him a lot. He was slim, but a bit taller than the average around here. Still he looked like he was still stuck in puberty.  
“Sena Jun, I suppose.” Sena nodded a bit at his quite bored voice. “Yuzuru Kurenai. But call me Beni. I am your personal Guards as long as you're in here.” So he was more like a prison-guard. “After you're done on stage, you wait for me backstage. I will take you back then. Now come on. Gaichi is raging again when we're late.”  
Toyoko walked past Beni, so did Sena, and led the way through the hallway, Sena's room was on the far end of the hallway, past the door that led outside and into another hallway that led backstage. There, Toyoko already saw the princesses preparing and the other girls at the other end of the room. Toyoko simply ignored all of those. The girls had to get ready when she was and not a moment later. She watched as Sena walked over to the other girls, was watched on every step she did. This girl was no concurrence for her. Slowly and stretching herself a bit she stepped on the stairs, heard the music getting quiet and placed herself on the chair that was prepared for her. The show could begin.


	5. The One Winged

  
With a slightly better mood, the Tsukigumi-brothers started to enjoy the show together with their Guards. The cute girls moved their bodies on stage, made quite a show out of what they did. Some of them had talent, however none of them came to watch these beginners. Instead they waited for the main act, waited for Shio to finally appear on stage. Hearing the blonde sing always made one shiver and she enjoyed it like nothing else. Her voice was just one of the reasons why she was so expensive. Her body was the other. Shio knew how to move, what to do and what to hold back to make men want her like no one else, never showed too much skin, but enough to drive the people in here mad. No wonder Gaichi loved his golden duck so much. The Tsukigumi-heir looked around, watched the people in the dark hall and sometimes sipped on her drink. She saw the Yukigumi-Star Mizu Natsuki sitting there beside an empty chair, Soragumi-Star Wao Youka not far ahead from him. Saeko heard that the two of them were connected somehow, but was sure that it wasn't friendship. All of them were able to talk to each other with some respect after all, however that didn't mean that they liked each other at all. It only became ugly when one clan raised its hand against another like it had happened not so long ago. It had happened when the former Hoshigumi-Star killed the former Yukigumi-Star by accident. Still it had been a declaration of war for Yukigumi and was still known as 'Hoshigumi-masacre'. A lot of good people died that night by the hands of Yukigumi, Tsukigumi and Soragumi alike. Mizu quickly had taken over the position as Star and knew how to make business with others. Tsukigumi's Lead, their father, agreed to help them for a price that Yukigumi was still paying. However, Soragumi and Tsukigumi always was a dangerous combination. Soragumi had the best of what weapons had to offer, Tsukigumi knew how to use them. The whole 'war' had been over before it even started.  
“It seems that mister Hanagumi really did sell the girl”, Wataru said and stopped Saeko's strain of thoughts. Quickly she looked at the door before focusing on the small door with the curtain that led to Gaichi's offices. Haruno, together with Romu, left from there, but without the girl. So she had been right after all. Saeko didn't really agree to the slave-trading Haruno and Gaichi did there, however she was not one to complain. All she learned all her life was acting and killing and the acting part just to be the perfect man. She would take over the family businesses and had to keep up the traditions, keep the family-honor safe. She had become dull and sometimes even enjoyed her work, enjoyed killing.  
“Maybe that means we get the chance to see her”, Saeko answered while leaning over to her brother and took another sip from her glass. In the corner of her eye she saw Kiriyan grinning widely at Romu. She still didn't get why the two of them were always fighting and why Kiriyan searched trouble with the Hanagumi-Guard. The two of them couldn't get closer than three meter to each other without picking a fight. One more reason why Saeko preferred Haruno taking Mattsu with him instead of Romu. The smaller man was at least quiet and somewhat peaceful. She watched while the Hanagumi-Star made his way through the crowd, past the Soragumi-Star and sat down beside Mizu on the empty chair. She would never get what connected Hanagumi and Yukigumi. Except business that was. They sat on the other end of the bar, on the far end of the stage. Saeko knew this system well enough to know that this was the place where Gaichi loved to place the new or unpopular girls. Just a dark corner to show them off, but they never got any attention there. The further in the middle they were, the more popular they were with the costumers. Maybe they would get to see young-Sena. Just as she finished that thought, the room became dark. The sign that the show was about to begin. Still she thought about why Haruno sold the girl personally. She didn't seem that much prettier than the other girls, thus the only reason Saeko could think of was that Sena was incredibly talented. It was pitchblack, however the Tsukigumi-heir was able to see how the girls ran to their places, yet she let her eyes fixed on the middle of the stage. Before it became at least kind of bright, she was unable to tell if the girl was really standing where Haruno was or if she was on stage at all. Even in all the cruelty Gaichi had, it was way too inhuman to throw a girl, who was just sold about 45 minutes ago, out there on stage and expect her to know what she was doing. Then again it was Gaichi they talked about. The sudden lights cut her thoughts again and she heard Shio's sensual voice, saw how she moved her body in the middle of the stage.  
 _“Große Männer, große Sieger (Great men, great successors)_  
 _gingen hier schon ein und aus (went in and out of here)_  
 _Konsul, Kardinäle, Krieger (Consuls, cardinals, warriors)_  
 _Sind zu Gast in meinem Haus.“ (Are guests in my house)_  
She leaned over on the edge of the stage, so that one could only guess what perfect body was under her toga, let her finger run over the edge of a man's cheek. One payed well for those seats.  
 _„Pfauengleich glänzt ihr Gefieder, (Their feathers sparkle like a peacock's)_  
 _wenn sie auf und ab stolzier'n, (while they walk up and down)_  
 _doch ein schlichtes Auf und Nieder (Yet a simple up and down)_  
 _lässt sie jeden Stolz verlier'n“ (Makes them loose their pride)_  
As much as she loved the blonde's voice, Saeko was more interested if Haruno's little bunny was around. She was. Right in front of Haruno and Mizu. It was easy to see that she had no idea what to do, that she was stiff and afraid, however once Haruno smiled over to her she more or less tried to do what she was supposed to. However that small gesture made her wonder. The Hanagumi-Star never ever cared about the girls he had sold to Gaichi before. It was more than strange. Plus she noticed that Sena loosed up a bit once Haruno threw over a gaze to her. Saeko could tell that she was used to dancing in some way by the way she moved. She was elegant even while still a bit tipsy on her heels and the Tsukigumi-Star wondered if Haruno would start drooling at one point. So he didn't sell the girl? But what was she doing in here then?  
“Where are you staring at?”, Wataru said beside her and Saeko looked back to him. “Shio is over there.”  
“I just looked after the Hanagumi-bunny. Seems that Haruno knows how to handle her.”  
“What? I thought he sold her to Gaichi.”  
“That's what I thought but I guess I was wrong. Look. Over there.”  
Once more the younger of the two brothers looked over to the bunny, pointed over to her and Wataru leaned forward a bit to have a better look at the scene. Even in the corner of her eye she could see her brother grin.  
“She is rather cute, don't you think?”, Kiriyan interfered and looked past the other three Tsukigumi-members over to Sena. “You think she can survive in here?”  
“Maybe”, Wataru answered. “I wouldn't mind.”  
  
Shio in the front of the stage noticed that she lost the attention of some people, yet it took her a few moments to realize how important these people were. Not only were the Stars of Hanagumi and Yukigumi not looking in her direction, she also saw the Tsukigumi-brothers putting their heads together and staring into another direction.  
 _„Philosophen, Dichter, Denker (Philosophers, poets, thinkers)_  
 _bringe ich um den Verstand. (I'll make them loose their mind)_  
 _Selbst der größte Staatenlenker (Even the most important guider of states)_  
 _gibt mir die Zügel in die Hand.“ (Gives the leash into my hands)_  
Especially loosing the Tsukigumi-brothers' attention made her angry, yet she continued her singing without anyone noticing how displeased she was. Instead she sat down on the edge of the stage, after all they were not allowed to leave it and go down to their viewers, and pulled up the cloth around her long legs, let the men just get a glimpse of her underwear. She earned applause, however the Star's attention was still fixed on Sena. All the sympathy she might have had for the girl was gone within a second. Wataru was known for only being fixed on one girl and no one even knew if the Tsukigumi-heir even booked a girl once. Just by showing interest, Shio felt her score going down and if Ayaki even had the thought of booking Sena, she might loose her position as Queen. Something she wanted to avoid at all cost. She wouldn't go back to the first floor. War it was then. She walked over to one of the princesses, invited her to dance with her with a gesture with her hand.  
 _„Man nennt mich die Cäsarin von Rom. (They call me female Caesar of Rome)_  
 _Mein Imperium heißt Lust (My empire is lust)_  
 _und mein Reich ist grenzenlos. (And my empire is endless)_  
 _Man nennt mich die Cäsarin von Rom.“ (They call me female Caesar of Rome)_  
She leaned down, pushed up what was left of the white cloth and felt a piece of nothing there, knelled down and pulled the string down before she continued singing.  
 _„Denn Nachts fällt mir die Herrschaft in den Schoß.“ (Because at night, ruling gets placed into my lap)_  
In between the drooling men, she still saw how the clan's Stars were fixed on Sena.  
  
Gaichi was more than impressed by how well Sena was doing on stage and how good the feedback from her costumers was. She was not allowed to sell sex with the young girl to the men who asked for it, sometimes it really pained her to do so since the amount of money in question was huge, but she held up her part of the deal. At least if she wanted to stay in business. If something happened to Sena, Haruno would go crazy and would stop offering her any ware she could sale. Yet the money she got for offering little private shows, strips or simply the company of the Hanagumi-bunny was yet more than enough to satisfy her needs for the moment. Sena seemed to be fine with these shows, at least that was what she thought since she didn't bark like the first time. Gaichi guessed that it was Haruno's doing. A few good words from her owner and the kitten purred and lightened up. It was like she became a different person once on stage, more hot than cute so that the Senka-Star made her stand quite far in the front quickly. Haruno had her fixed place close to his bunny and Gaichi held open her hand for it. Just the place right in the middle of the stage was still Shio's, surrounded by the princesses. Sena wasn't a princess though. Haruno didn't want her to be one and Shio defended her place with hands and feet, showed her teeth and growled. Yet none of the clan's Stars seemed to want to take the first step in renting Sena for once, except Haruno, who wasn't technically counting since he owned her anyway. It was still quite clear that their attention lay on the young dancer and if Gaichi wasn't completely wrong she also saw the Soragumi-Lead once in between the men. The bunny herself didn't seem to mind the men staring at her during her dance, simply danced until it was over before having a bit of small-talk with her new found friends Asumi Rio, Mirio for short, and Yumesaki Nene. Well however they pleased as long as they did their work. Gaichi simply set aside the thought of having seen the Soragumi-Lead. She may was a woman and the one Lead who was sometimes seen and had some kind of thing for Lolitas and Lolita-dresses, yet seeing her in her strip-club was simply crazy. A few times her mind went even crazier and she started offering Haruno even more money than she did ever before for a girl and even then the Hanagumi-Star refused to sell the so promising girl. Then again thinking about what she could get for the innocence for Sena, that amount of money was laughable.  
Gaichi sat inside her office, looked over some papers like she did so often and growled a bit for herself. Actually she shouldn't be as angry as she was. Since Sena was so precious for Haruno, she was highly questioned with her other costumers and she got quite a bit of money out of it and until the first of the Stars would ask for her this would continue. And once the Stars start asking for her she could get even more out of the deal. Yet if Osa would continue to refuse to sell her to the Sky Stage, her costumers would get angry about the 'no-sex'-clause and stop paying money for Sena. Beni already had to beat one or two men out of the club since he wanted to get a bit more than just a simple strip. One more thing why Gaichi hoped that one of the Stars would book Sena soon. If the Stars showed official interest in a girl, they were unofficially the firsts who had the right to take the innocence of the little girl. About anyone knew that and if they didn't they most likely weren't alive anymore.  
The door opened and out of reflex Gaichi grabbed her gun, got up from her spot and pointed it at the door. Tom casually walked in and the Senka-Star lay down her weapon, growled a bit more.  
“Fuck! Do you ever learn knocking before you get in?! I will get a freaking heart-attack because of you!”, she screamed. The Lead grinned slightly, walked around the table and stood behind the still standing Senka-Star.  
“As if you were old enough to get a heart-attack, youngster. I would think about it if you took Yukigumi's drugs.”  
“You know that I don't buy this stuff for myself. It's for the girls. Little spoiled brats. Tell me why I do so much good to these sluts?”  
Tom laughed, walked around her and looked inside her eyes, started stroking her cheek.  
“If they feel well, they won't rebel. They sell easier. It was your idea after all. Or was it your father's?”  
Gaichi simply growled and leaned against the hand. Somehow her partner was right and once again she was reminded why Todoroki had the upper part in their relationship, why she made him her Lead. He, or she, was stronger than her and she felt it once more when the hot breath was at her ear so that Gaichi clawed herself in the Senka-Lead's shirt.  
“You should relax a bit, Midori”, the Lead whispered and just seconds later she found herself trapped at the wall. Tom rarely called her by that name, the name that not even Gaichi herself was sure if it was her real one. She was only called by that during their most intimate moments. Ever since Haruno interrupted them, they either didn't have the time or Todoroki had not been in the mood for sex, which was the cause for Gaichi's rising frustration. She never let anyone else touch her, no matter how much sexual tension there was.  
“Well? Any wishes, my star?”  
Damn this... Todoroki was hot and sexy while using this deep, sensual voice that made her head spin and shiver. She needed a few seconds to answer.  
“Deep, hard and the whole night”, she whispered and felt the hot lips pressed against hers.  
  
“Wait a second. What? You want to spend so much money just for... tea?”  
The Star felt how she lost control over her expressions, felt getting pale and stared into her Lead's eyes. She simply smiled and pulled on the ruffles.  
“Not tea. I can get tea everywhere. A tea-PARTY.”  
Just with all her might she stopped herself from slapping her hand against her forehead. She wasn't kidding at all, even though the Star hoped so. Instead she felt her eyebrow twitch and looked over to Hanafusa Mari. The more used name for her was Ohana or Lady Ohana, Lead of Soragumi and the most girly person to ever walk this earth. At least on the outside.  
“Tea... party...”, she simply sighed and gulped. “You ARE serious.”  
“Of course I am.” The Lead jumped up, which made her long locks jump as well in the process, walked around the small white table. “With tea and cookies and pie and sweets and cake.” She lay her finger on her chin and thought for a moment. “Oh and with some pretty dresses. Without that slutty stuff though.” She turned a bit to face the Soragumi-Star. “You can tell Gaichi that they can keep the dresses if I'm satisfied.”  
“But... but Ohana... what you spend on these two is around what we make from dealing with Tsukigumi for... around a month?”  
“And?” The small woman seemed angry and raised her eyebrows a bit. “What good is all the money I have if I don't spend it?”  
“But...”  
“Stop it already. No buts, Takako. You know what I want and don't even dare to come back without the girls. Now go before I really loose my cool. I'm in my playroom.”  
With her head held high she walked out of the tearoom, left the Soragumi-Star, Wao Youka, alone there, still holding her head. This woman was simply frustrating. Even though the woman was older than her, she acted like a little girl, squealed over everything that was fluffy, colorful and cute. The worst part was that she spent most of the money they used to pay their Guards and Currents with for these unnecessary things just to throw it away again. Not to mention all these tea-parties she loved to give, not with girls from their own clan, who they had a lot of, but the expensive ones from the Sky Stage. Luckily she only punished the ones she bought afterward from Gaichi. The rented ones got sent back unharmed.  
Sighing Takako left the room, walked through the Soragumi-establishment that had Ohana's handwriting on it. Everywhere hang or stood cute pictures of animals or whatever she found cute, the color was... questionable and sometimes it hurt in her eyes. Sometimes there was a Current or a Guard walking past her, most of them in dresses and not in suits like Takako and her Guards preferred to be in. The Star and her Guards preferred to symbolize men since it was easier to get respected and feared while the Guards around their lead were all cute, small and female. Nono Sumika, who was closest to Ohana, wore trousers, but often showed what she had by allowing views into her cleavage.  
“Stressed again?”, she heard and was joined by one of her Guards, Aoki Izumi, Codename Morie.  
“Ohana wants a tea-party. And she wants some girls from the Sky Stage again.”  
Morie grinned while walking by her side. It wasn't a mystery that Takako hated the parties Ohana liked to give and everything that was connected to it. But being a Star, she had no right to talk anything out of her Lead.  
“So? Who this time? The Princess again?”  
“No. She wants this Nene-girl. And that expensive one. What was she called? Sena-something-or-another..”  
“I guess you mean Sena Jun. That Hanagumi-bunny.”  
Takako never really payed attention to her, but had noticed before that she was skilled and talented. The only name she was known under was 'Hanagumi-bunny' since everyone knew that she belonged to Haruno and not Gaichi. Yet the Senka-Star let other people rent her for a show or for mere company and earned quite some money with that. Once Ohana would start renting her on a regular basis, Senka would drown in money.  
“That one.” Takako started walking again and let her hand run through her hair. “And she wants her today.”  
“And how do you want to do that? I doubt that Hanagumi will be happy if the bunny is missing.”  
“I tried talking it out of her.” Morie gave her that particular look again when he didn't believe her. “Don't look at me like that. I really did.”  
Once more she growled and walked down the stairs with the red violet carpet. At least her Guards proved to have somewhat of a brain. Yet he stayed silent shortly after. Everyone in Soragumi knew that it was unwise to talk back to Ohana. She may showed the sweet, spoiled and cute princess on the outside, but on the inside she was dangerous. She was cold and cruel and knew how to make people suffer when she wanted something. The tip of the iceberg was her great sense for businesses, knew weapons of all kinds like no other and knew how to manipulate people to her will. No one interfered with Lady Ohana and if they did, their life ended shortly.  
Like she was told, Takako and her Guard made their way through the town to the Sky Stage. It was strange to show up there while it was still in the middle of the day since the club was only alive at night. Hopefully the bunny was in her cage and not in her master's lap. She only heard rumors that Haruno sometimes took his pet home to pet and clean her up. It was kind of cute thinking that the so cold Hanagumi-Lead had a soft spot for a mere girl he had picked up from somewhere. Takako entered the room before Morie, took a look around. Only very few girls were dancing on stage, young mostly untalented ones that would get replaced shortly. The very few men sitting on the tables were not there to watch the desperate girls. Instead they focused on their drinks and got thrown out by one of the Currents once they got drunk enough. Sad members of the upper class. Ignoring whatever happened in the main hall, the Soragumi-Star made her way through the small door, walked right into Yurika's arms. Wasn't that Guard ever sleeping? Her weapons were layed down quickly since Takako, as much of a weapon expert she was, preferred hand to hand combat. The Guard let them pass and the two Soragumi-members stepped in front of the main office where Takako raised her hand to knock but got interrupted by a loud moan from inside before she had the chance to. Well it seemed that Tom was with Gaichi again. Somehow they got a talent for always getting to it when there was someone arriving, the Soragumi-Star in particular. Morie simply grinned.  
“Don't you want to knock?”  
Takako raised her eyebrow and turned to face Morie. She would have punished everyone who would have had that tone in their voice or at least everyone else. The Guard was one of her more trusted ones and almost something like a friend to her.  
“Sure. But only if you're the one who lets himself get shot by an angry Gaichi. I need him in a good mood or else the deal is off. And Ohana would kill me for that.”  
“I still don't quite get why you let yourself get ordered around like this. You as Star shouldn't let yourself get treated like a dog.”  
“I know. But she is my Lead and I owe her my life. And for the record: don't let anyone hear you talking like this about her. She will get you killed on the spot.”  
Takako turned to the door again when she heard a cry from inside and couldn't hold back a grin. That sounded like the Star finally got his release. Hopefully Tom fucked him good enough so that the Senka-Star would be in a good mood or at least lust-drunken enough to agree to her request. She knocked and she heard a silent curse from inside, waited a few moments before actually opening the door. There she already saw Tom with a tissue in his hands, his shirt ripped open a bit and licking his lips while Gaichi almost slipped off of his chair, still blushing and gasping, his shirt halfway open, his jacket thrown off beside him on the ground and he obviously was just closing the zipper at his pants.  
“What the hell do you want?”, Tom said in a slightly angry voice. “We're busy.”  
Takako couldn't hold back a small smile.  
“I can see that and I'm terribly sorry. Lady Ohana sent me. She wants some girl for...” She couldn't really believe she said this. “... well... a tea-party. Again.”  
“So does she?”, Gaichi said and pushed himself up his chair, looked around for something, most likely decided that he couldn't find it and limped around the desk. Someone seemed to have been a bit too harsh. The gay couple was somehow sweet. Without a further word the Senka-Star walked, actually limped the whole way, past them to get to the Soragumi-office. Just as the man passed her, Takako noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes and was quite a bit shorter without them. In the corner of her eye she also saw Morie with his hand in front of his mouth to hold back a loud laugh. Seeing the man stiff like that repayed her for waiting and the Soragumi-Star stayed amused in silence. Inside the office, nothing had changed from the last time she was in there. It was quite dark with a lot of dark wood and a few documents lay on the desk. Gaichi walked around it, slowly sat down on his chair and pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom drawer behind his desk to note the girls that Ohana wanted for her party. The Senka-Star strictly kept track of who was going in and out. “So? What girls were you thinking about? And I hope you have the money to pay me.”  
“She wants two. The Nene-girl and Sena Jun”, Takako answered with a neutral tone, crossed fingers behind her back that Gaichi wouldn't ask further. With a slightly tired look on his face, the man behind his desk took the next best pen and started writing. Just as he did and just as Takako thought about letting her shoulders fall down in release, he stopped.  
“Sena...” He looked up. “Are we talking about the Hanagumi-bunny here?”  
“We do.”  
A few moments of silence followed and Takako felt the need to bite her bottom lip, yet stopped herself from doing so. Gaichi stared at her for a few seconds like she was out of her mind before smashing the pen on his paper.  
“You are fucking crazy, you know that? Coming here and asking for a girl that is not even mine. She wears the Hanagumi-earring for a reason.”  
The Soragumi-Star knew that, but her Lead didn't.  
“Lady Ohana is paying well for a few hours.”  
The Senka leaned back, continued to fix her with a gaze, however Takako could tell that he took the bait. If Ohana was paying well, she payed really well. Money was not the option at this point and the Senka-Star knew that.  
“How much?”  
“If I heard correctly, around two to three times of what someone pays for sex with Shio.” Gaichi stared on his hands. She just had to pull him in. “And she said she would give the dresses she wants them to wear as gifts to the Sky Stage.”  
Gaichi growled a bit. He couldn't refuse this offer. Actually he could but they both knew he wouldn't. He was way too fixed on the money, too greedy to refuse it.  
“Fine”, he said under his breath. “Four hours. That is all you get. Beni and Yurika will accompany you to make sure nothing happens to my property and Sena. If she is back late or if I find just one scratch on her I will throw you out personally and make Soragumi regret it.”  
“Whatever pleases you. But I don't think the Lady will be pleased by having the two men by the girl's sides.”  
“Not my problem. I'm taking a great risk by letting the bunny leave the cage even when she's on a leash.” Gaichi tapped his finger on the paper in front of him. “I want my costumers pleased and right now, Haruno is one as well. I want the bunny back like she leaves here. Unharmed and without any strange thoughts in her pretty little head. Did I make myself clear?”  
“I will deliver the message to Ohana.”  
“Great. After we dealt with my payment, I will send Yurika and Beni to get the girls and wait for you in the main hall. And just for your own safety, Wao: Don't let anybody see you taking the girls. It may be dark in there, however there are some people that would just love to play spy and talk to Haruno. Hanagumi loves his pet and he could play his card right to wipe out Soragumi if he is really angry. And I would hate to loose a business-partner. It is a shame what happened between Hoshigumi and Yukigumi and I don't want the story to repeat itself.”

 


	6. It's TEAparty

  
  
Enraged and furious, Toyoko ran up and down her room, still in her underwear and her bathrobe. She cursed silently and bit her bottom lip. Not only that Gaichi let that baby Sena stand just by her side while she was on stage, that girl stole her costumers and thus, lowered her score. Even worse, Sena was almost as expensive as her. She was only lucky that the Senka-Star wasn’t allowed to sell sex with the Hanagumi-bunny or else her score would be even higher. She was only glad that none of the Stars had asked for her. Until now. Soragumi-Star Wao Youka had been seen in the club and since then she felt like throwing everything on the ground and breaking it.  
“Calm down already. Maybe I just misheard it”, Teru said, who was sitting on her bed. Teru, with full name Ouki Kaname, was the one that Gaichi has set as her guard. No one knew that this relationship of guard and prisoner went way deeper than business-based. Their ‘relationship’ was one reason Toyoko became so successful in the first place. Teru came to her not so long ago, told her that he overheard Wao who came to the club and was about to book her concurrence, even take her with him. Sena didn’t even seem to notice the pressure that Toyoko was under.  
“To be honest, that was just a matter of time. She’s popular. I… I just hope that Gaichi doesn’t agree.”  
Teru got up from the bed, walked over to her and looked down at her. He was quite a lot taller than her, especially on heels and with her barefood, yet lay his hand on her shoulder.  
“I hate to bring it to you, but you make a fool out of yourself. As soon as money is involved, Gaichi would throw himself into one of these dresses and get on stage himself.”  
He had a point there. Toyoko growled slightly and lowered her gaze. She still had hopes that Gaichi would say no, they were talking about the Hanagumi-bunny after all, however it wouldn’t hurt to show said bunny where her place was. Below her. The idea let her grin a bit.  
“Teru. Give me your hat and jacket.”  
“What? What is going on in your mind again?”  
“Just give it to me. I’ll bring it back, I promise. Just make sure no one knows I got out.”  
Once more her guard was about to talk back, yet pulled down his head with a sigh and let the jacket fall off his shoulders while the blonde walked over to her wardrobe to pull out the last pair of trousers she owned as well as a shirt and high heeled boots. Hard times needed harsh actions. Quickly she changed into these clothes, took the jacket from Teru and pulled it over her upper body, put the hat on her head while pulling it down to hide part of her face after changing her make-up a bit. Once more she controlled her outfit and looking in the mirror. It wasn’t good, but enough to fool the Guards in here. It was still dark after all even though it was the middle of the day.  
“What do you want to do”, Teru asked once more. “You know you are not allowed to hurt her.”  
“I know. I just show her what happens when fooling with me. It is time to show her what actually happens to the girls in her. It is not fair that she has advantages just because she’s Haruno’s little pet.”  
“… Fine. But I can’t give you more than ten minutes. You know how much Beni hates me and Yurika won’t play along.”  
The blonde rolled her eyes, turned to her guard and smiled a bit.  
“Just keep them away as long as you can. I hurry.”  
  
The same time, Asako sat in her room at her dressing table, brushed her hair and fixed them a bit. Her hair got longer since she first got into the Sky Stage and sometimes she just wished for shorter hair. Yet in her position, she was not allowed to complain. All that matters was keeping up her score and be pretty for the costumers. She learned to be pretty for them just so she didn’t need to strip in front of those greasy old douchbags and somehow she liked dancing. She simply ignored the eyes that lay on her when she danced. Yet it was easy to see for her that Shio hated her for being this popular with the crowd. She only overheard it once when she was at Osa’s house and she had a chat with Mattsu. As much as chatting with him was possible. Then again all of this didn’t interest her at all. She just was glad that she no longer had to live on the streets, had a warm bed, something like work, pretty clothes and someone to look after her. The Hanagumi-Lead only kind of introduced her to the whole system of the underground, yet didn’t tell her more than Shio did. She had no idea who the Stars of the clans were. Then again she had a good idea. After all she was not stupid. While on stage, while humming the songs Shio sang, she noticed a few quite young men between the other costumers. They were quite far in the back, yet with perfect view of the stage. It was obvious that the other men kept their distance to them. Sometimes she talked to her new found friends Mirio and Nene about it, but they had told her that they most likely were the Stars instead of the Leads. The Leads never really left their homes. Both girls were incredibly cute, talented, yet they had a low score. Nene was tiny with her 1.63 meters, more like a puppet, was abused and hurt by the girls and costumers alike and didn’t have any self-consciousness. Mirio was around Asako’s size, a bit stronger than Nene and able to fight back if needed, but also she had her problems. The young woman was addicted to drugs. It was the reason how she got there in the first place. She just got enough from Yurika to calm her down but once the show was over she needed the next one so she wouldn’t go crazy. And Yurika only gave her more after each costumer, that being the reason why Mirio wasn’t picky about them. When Asako asked her why she wouldn’t stop, she answered that she had no reason to even try to stop. She didn’t ask further. Asako didn’t have any reason to change her situation as well. Osa treated her as his property, as a pet, then again the Hanagumi-Lead gave her anything she desired and wanted. So why change it?  
The brown-haired woman got up, walked over to her wardrobe and took out some underwear, a light blouse and a short skirt. She still had time until she had to get on stage the next time, so she left off the shoes. As much as she liked Osa’s outfits, she felt like they got tighter and shorter, the heels getting higher and hurt even more. All that was left for her was to continue being bored. Osa would hopefully pick her up after the next performance. She preferred to play and talk with Ai-chan, who worked at Osa’s house as a maid. Her friend became pretty comfortable with her position and had her eye on Mattsu. Asako always teased her about that and made fun of her. Just because she was a bird in a golden cage didn’t mean she was not allowed to have fun. All that was left to her inside here was dancing and humming for herself since she was not allowed to sing like she dreamed to.  
The door opened and Asako turned around. Beni really had to learn to knock before he got in. Yet it wasn’t Beni after all. An unfamiliar person walked in and Asako blinked in surprise.  
“Excuse me? What are you doing in here?”, she asked. Usually Beni brought her to one of the special rooms on the first floor for her private performances. Her room was off-limits for costumers by the will of Osa. Yet when the person pulled back the hat, Asako was even more surprised. “Shio? What are you doing here?” She raised her eyebrow. “And what about the suit?”  
The blonde didn’t talk, just walked over to her and Asako walked back a step, hit the edge of her bed with her foot. Shio was in a bad mood, that was obvious.  
“I don’t like it…”, she started. “… when someone tries to take my place and my title.”  
“What? I don’t…”  
“Don’t lie to me! I have the highest score and no one will take it from me! And I will make no excuse for a little slut like you! Just because you’re Haruno’s little bunny allows you to just do as you please?! You’re not even worthy!”  
Asako fell back, fell on her bed and just as she hit the mattress, Shio was above her and pinned her with her hands above her head.  
“Stop it”, she whispered out of breath. She felt paralyzed by the sudden, harsh action Shio took and felt the tears filling her eyes when the blonde leaned down to her ear. Her legs were held down by one of Shio’s, her wrists caught in her unusual strong grip and the fingers of the second hand danced on her belly.  
“I’m your Queen, Sena”, Shio hissed. “And no one takes my place. I show you what happens to the Servants around here. And don’t forget to say ‘Thank you’ afterward.”  
Still too confused what to do, Asako simply whimpered when she felt the fingers on her bare skin, shook when Shio bit her ear and found the sensitive point just behind her ear. She felt lost and alone. Beni surely wasn’t there, or else Shio wouldn’t have gotten in in the first place, Osa was not around and no one else was there to help her when she screamed. After all Shio was Queen and the girls obeyed her every word. Quickly the blonde had opened up her blouse, leaned over her and looked into her tear-filled eyes.  
“Now isn’t that cute”, she said with a much deeper voice than Asako was used to. Shio’s index-finger forced itself under her bra, just in between her breasts under the small ribbon. “Did Haruno give this to you? He surely is a lovely owner, isn’t he? So where is he now?” Asako simply looked up, shook in fear and bit her bottom lip to distract herself from what was happening and her numb hands. Shio inhaled to talk again, Asako felt her breath against her lips when there was a knock at the door. Thank god.  
“Sena? Are you dressed?”  
Her eyes were fixed on the blonde, who looked her deeply into the eyes, laying her finger on her lips before getting up and hiding behind the door. Shaking she sat up, pulled close her blouse and took another look over to Shio.  
“I… come… come in”, she called out weakly and the door opened. Beni stepped in and didn’t even pay attention to anything. Asako gulped. “Where were you at? I called for you earlier.”  
Beni scratched the back of her head and only in the corner of her eye she saw Shio pulling down her head once again, sneaking out of the room without Beni noticing. She asked herself if the so called Queen would get yelled at if she was caught sneaking around.  
“I’m sorry.” Her attention jumped back to Beni. “Yurika called me over and I had to get to Gaichi. That’s why I knocked. Go and get dressed into something nice. We’re going on a small trip.”  
Asako just buttoned up her blouse when she threw a confused gaze over to Beni.  
“What? A trip? Where?”  
“I’m not supposed to tell you. I haven’t been there myself yet and I am just meant to look after you.” Beni grinned widely. “But as I see it you will start meeting the big guys. So behave. If you get a better score, I will get paid better and have a much higher rank in here. But now hurry. He’s already waiting for you.”  
Just as she was told, Asako grabbed a jacket from inside her wardrobe, got into some shoes, she already cursed them, and stopped before she got to Beni.  
“You said ‘we’. Who is coming along? Just the two of us?”  
“Yurika and Nene are coming along, too. Well Yurika more for your protection. No one really cares about Nene. Oh and just before I forget: no word to Haruno. You know why. I cling to my life.”  
Asako simply nodded. It wasn’t only Beni’s life on the line. Gaichi would kill them both if Osa ever found out. She still felt that slap in the face she got from the Senka-Star when she tried to talk to Osa about her renting.  
The brown-haired woman walked behind her guard while Asako ignored the sometimes pained moans coming through some doors. She still didn’t get used to that and was simply glad she didn’t have to share their fate. Yet she pitied the girls. Slowly she let her fingers run over Osa’s earring she still wore. It was her only protection, still she hid it under her hair sometimes to get along easier with the other girls in here. Yet she still wondered what made Shio think she wanted to be Queen of Sky Stage? She had no reason to. The only advantage that the title of Queen had was the allowance to meet clients on the third floor, somewhere she didn’t want to go anyway.  
When they walked into the main hall, Asako already saw Gaichi’s personal pet Yurika and Nene standing beside two other tall men. She knew one of them. He usually sat alone, away from the other people and watched the show. Asako was pretty sure that there had been a girl or a woman with him some time ago, yet she didn’t really pay attention to it. Asako simply smiled to Nene when they got close and bowed shortly to the other two men. When they walked out, she was jealous of Nene’s flat shoes. They walked around the club where they already saw two quite impressive cars, one of them more like a small limousine.  
“You will get into that car…”, one of the men said and pointed over to the dark car. If she was interpreting it right, that was at least a Guard. “… and the driver will follow us. Once we’re there, Morie will open the door for you.”  
Morie. So that was the other man’s name. Said man nodded and the other got into the front car while Morie opened the door for them, closed it again after the Senka-Guards, Asako and Nene got in.  
“Where… where are we going?”, Nene said with a trembling voice. She knew the girl well enough to know that she barely got out of the club.  
“Not sure. But if I take a wide guess, I would say… the Soragumi-residence”, Beni said and looked over to Yurika.  
“Hanafusa Mari personally asked for the two of you”, Yurika said when the car started moving. As Gaichi’s right hand, he knew a lot about the clans.  
“Who was that man? He didn’t introduce himself”, Asako asked while pulling down her skirt once more. At least she didn’t have to walk in these uncomfortable heels.  
“Soragumi-Star Wao Youka. So behave yourself around him. Oh and one more thing.” Yurika’s voice became a bit more silent while he continued talking. “Mari is known for torturing the girls she buys from Gaichi. And she buys them when she’s not satisfied with them.” He looked over to Nene. “Sena doesn’t need to worry about it. She’s under Hanagumi protection and even if Soragumi and Hanagumi hate each other, OHana won’t take any action to anger Hanagumi. But you need to be careful. While you’re only hired, we will ensure your safety. If she buys you, we’re unable to stop her and she will kill you. Remember that.”  
Nene became immediately smaller on her spot, nodded a bit while her face became pale. Asako touched her friend’s shoulder and smiled over to her.  
“Cheer up. It won’t be that bad.”  
The rest of the time, Asako tried looking out the window, but since they were darkly tinted it was impossible to see where they were going. She didn’t feel well inside the dark, small car, feeling how it moved and not seeing where they went.  
Yet when it stopped, Asako felt like she almost fell asleep. Like they were ordered to, they waited until Morie opened the door and Yurika got out first, followed by Nene, Asako and Beni. The sudden light she wasn’t used to anymore made her blind for a second. When she blinked and regained her eyesight, she found herself inside a bright and colorful garden. Flowers were everywhere, kind of like in Osa’s home, yet much more artificial and fake. What stood out to Asako the most were the women running around, standing at each entrance and sometimes walking over to another position. They were all quite small, dressed in wide trousers and ruffled blouses, yet with clearly visible guns attached to their hips. The main door opened and another woman came out. She also was pretty small, with long, brown locks and dressed in a long, pink dress with ruffles and ribbons on them. She looked like a little girl. More or less elegant, more girlish, she hurried over to the Soragumi-Star.  
“Took you long enough, Wao”, she woman said with a smile on her lips that reminded Asako of poison. The Star let his hand run through his hands while looking down to the smaller woman.  
“Gaichi was busy when I came. And I only got four hours out of the deal.”  
“Only four hours?” The woman pouted and once more Asako asked herself if that girl really was the Soragumi-Lead. “That’s not enough time to show them my tropical house.”  
“Then why don’t we go upstairs and celebrate your tea-party until they need to return.”  
The Lead seemed to agree to that, sighed slightly before she walked over to Asako and Nene. Asako was more than one foot taller than her and she felt Mari’s eyes all over her.  
“Well you’re way taller than they told me you would be. We need to squeeze you in then, don’t we?”  
“Uhm… squeeze in?”, Asako said confused, yet before she could react, Mari grabbed her and Nene’s hands, pulling the two girls after her and over her shoulder, Asako noticed Yurika and Beni hurrying after them.  
  
Nene expected everything, or at least a lot, but not this. The Soragumi-Lady was motivated and in a more than good mood, pulled them through the gigantic house and pushed the two girls inside a room where they should change. She still wasn’t sure what to think of this. She never got booked outside of Sky Stage and out of all people not by a Star or Lead. Then again she was only glad when she was not touched by those fat, ugly or greasy men who usually came to her. Still she was scared of what was about to come. A wrong step would cost her her life and it wasn’t making it easier for her. They were handed a few dresses and were told to change. Nene got a deep black dress, the sleeves bright white and over and over filled with ruffles, with a red lacing on the side. It ended just above the knee. She had to say that it felt quite good and she looked kind of cute. She also got hairband with another ribbon on it to hold back her long hair. And still she really loved what Asako got as a dress. Her dress with a corset was held in limegreen and white. The corset itself was green while the skirt, that ended above her knee, had white ruffles as edges, white overknee-socks with green bowties. Nene had to smile sadly when she looked further down and found green highheels that were obviously too small for the tall woman. She knew how much Sena disliked high heels. As accessories her friend, the Soragumi-Lead gave her a collier and a small hat attached to a hairband with some sparkling stones on it. Sena seemed to be uncomfortable, yet didn’t say anything against it. They were not supposed to talk back. Instead they were brought to another room together with Yurika and Beni. The Guards stayed at the door while the two girls walked over to the small, white table. Nene took her time to look around. The room was filled with small figures, boxes, pictures, flowers, cupboards, vases and so on and so forth. It was so gigantic that Nene tried to figure out how many times her own room could fit in there. She also noticed a small cage that had a bird in it, singing its song. The Lead sat on one of the white chairs, lay her hand on her cheek and smiled widely.  
“You two look fabulous. Totally cute.” She looked over to Wao who sat beside her. “See? I told you they would look fantastic. You didn’t believe me.”  
“I never doubted you, OHana.” He pointed over to two free chairs. “Please. Have a seat. Do you like the dresses?”  
Unsure what to say she looked over to her taller friend. Sena smiled and just looked adorable.  
“They are so pretty. Thank you for allowing us to wear these”, she answered, bowed a little and Nene imitated her gesture before the two of them sat down beside the Soragumi-leaders.  
“Oh and she has manners”, OHana said and seemed fascinated by what she hired, let Wao pour in some more tea.  
  
Not only did she hate that dress, now she had to say ‘thank you’ for it like a little puppet. While they were changing, the Guards at the door had stared at them like they were some animals or as if they never had seen a naked woman before. Luckily Asako knew how to feign to be thankful and to be happy. The only positive thing about this was, that she didn’t need to be careful about what she said since Mari, or Lady OHana as Wao continued to call her, took over the talking-part. All that was left to her was sitting there, nodding, agreeing, looking adorable and sometimes took a sip from that awful tea and eat one of the way too dry cookies. Wao seemed to do so as well. The Star simply stared at the Lead, clearly having other things in mind than sitting here and sometimes nod to OHana’s statements. Nene however seemed to be really happy about everything. She never had seen this girl talk this much before. Asako only sometimes got one of the subjects the two were talking about, yet she heard that all they went on about was clothes, tea, pastry, cookies and cakes, animals, birds, hamsters and all that was cute and fluffy. Just when she felt her head explode from all the bright pink fluffiness, she turned to the Lead. OHana didn’t even seem to notice.  
“Where is Morie? Didn’t he come along?”  
Wao, distracted by her question, turned to face her and smiled a bit.  
“He had different orders.” So that basically meant he didn’t want to hear his leader babbling on about nothing at all. Smart guy. “Why asking?”  
“I’m just curious.”  
Out of subjects to talk about, Asako let her eyes wander through the room. There was so much she wanted to talk about, but not with Beni and specifically Yurika in her back.  
“Do you like my collection?”, the Soragumi-Lead suddenly asked and a bit surprised Asako turned to face her once more, smiled back at her.  
“It looks very pretty. May I take a closer look? I really like such small collectables.”  
The Lead tapped the side of her cup, put it back on the small plate and smiled a bit wider again.  
“Alright. Go take a look. But be careful. They mean a lot to me.” She looked over to her Star. “Wao please accompany her. We don’t want anything to happen to our precious.”  
Asako bowed a bit before she got up from her seat. Wao did it as well and followed her on her heels. Being pushed around like that surely wasn’t easy for someone in his position. Asako’s feet still hurt a lot and the shoes weren’t making it better, but it was way better than simply being bored and sit beside the two gossiping girls. Instead she walked through the gigantic room, felt Yurika’s eyes in her back and Wao on her heels while she took a look at the small things that were nicely beaded on cupboards and so on. Most of them didn’t look that expensive, more like souvenirs from travels or things that get inherited within some families. A few of them also had scratches on them.  
“Where are these things from? They don’t look new.”  
“All of this are collectables”, Wao said and got close to her, pulled out a small box from the upper part of the showcase.  
  
Nene didn’t expect the Soragumi-Lead to be this nice and lovely. The moment she stepped into the room she was fascinated by all the colorful little figures and how the room was made up and she simply loved talking about this and that with Mari. They seemed to get along quite well and quickly she promised to bake some stuff together with the Lead the next time she would get there. She was happy finally being able to be just a girl for once without being abused. Yet she noticed that as soon as Wao got up, the Lead’s eyes were basically glued to him. He seemed like a dog that got loose from his leash and his owner watching over him.  
“All of this are collectables”, she heard from the Star and Mari put down her teacup when Wao pulled out the box, opened it and Nene heard a small melody coming from it. It was a lovely little music-box.  
“More like mementos”, Mari called out and took a small sip of her tea. Wao turned and watched her for a few seconds.  
“You don’t need to tell them that.”  
The Soragumi-Lead laughed a bit, put back her cup with a small clack.  
“Don’t be silly. They are grown women.” Mari, still her lovely smile on her lips, turned back to Nene and they looked into each other’s eyes. “You know… I don’t like being betrayed. I don’t like people slaking of at work. I don’t like people who want to take what is mine. I simply love to take new members for Soragumi and everyone is welcome but only the ones who please me enough are allowed to stay.”  
Nene gulped a bit. She felt the color leaving her face but she still asked.  
“And… if someone isn’t pleasing you?”  
“Then he gets killed. His or her belongings goes to Soragumi. I always look through the stuff Soragumi inherits and if there’s something lovely I keep it for myself. Sometimes there are such cute things like charms and figurines and music boxes and I don’t want to part with it. I see them as mementos of the dead. They are still part of Soragumi if their stuff is here. It’s so nice of me, isn’t it?”  
Nene forced on a smile, bit her tongue harder while she looked back to Asako. Wao closed the box again and put it back where he got it from. Her friend’s eyes were still fixed on the box, horror standing in her eyes and also Nene had to fix the box. That box once belonged to a person. A person murdered by Soragumi.  
“Well girls”, Yurika suddenly said. “Time to go home.”  
  
  
  



	7. Trap

Sometime later, the two girls were back in the car with the Senka-Guards and back on their way to Sky Stage. Beni still ignored the fact that the Soragumi-Lead had showed her ‘collection’. The two girls however were still pale and seemed distant, just stared on their hands. Yurika was still controlling the money he had in a case on his lap. The looked just adorable in the dresses that OHana gave to them, however they weren’t really fitting to be worn on stage.   
“Wow. I’m impressed. Gaichi will be satisfied. OHana gave quite a tip for the two of you”, Yurika said and grinned. Sena raised her gaze.  
“Do we need to get back there?”, she asked and Beni leaned back a little. It would just take a bit more time until she had a higher score than Shio. She preferred to stay quiet.  
“Only if the Lady decides to book you again.” The other Senka-Guard took out a few bank notes and separated it into two. “But considering the price you have, it will take some time. I think the other Stars will go for you first.”  
“What does this have to do with OHana?”  
“You see…” Yurika leaned back, flipped through the bills once more. “… one Star decides to take a girl for his own for once and the others want to know what is so special about her. They rent her as well. It’s sort of like releasing the kraken. And very childish indeed.”   
He handed over a few of the bills to her and Beni put it in her inner pocket.   
“All just jealous little children if you ask me”, she answered and grinned slightly. With such a tip, the guards usually took a piece of the cake in order to somehow survive in the underground. Gaichi wasn’t paying them well enough. Yurika held a few of the bills over to Sena, who looked at it really surprised.  
“Take it, sweetheart”, Beni said, a smile on her lips. “Money doesn’t bite. You’re going to need it. But don’t let anyone know you have it. If Gaichi finds out about it we surely watch the plants grow from below very soon.”  
  
Asako took the money she was offered, glanced over to Nene, who put her very few bills under her corset and under her bra. The brown-haired woman imitated her. That corset was going to kill her one day. This whole scene at with the Soragumi-clan threw her off and she still felt dizzy because of it. All these pretty things, figurines and little treasures, all those once belonged to people. Now dead people. Murdered people. All this time on the street and with Osa, death always had been a thing far away from her. Even when she got put inside that bordello, getting in contact with murderers, liars, politicians and assassins, she never got touched by it.   
Their way back to Sky Stage was so much shorter than their way to Soragumi, however it was hard for her to drag herself out of the car. Was it right what she was doing? She wasn’t helping anyone by getting undressed, but she wasn’t hindering them either. Just because of the clans, no one was able to live fully in this city. But who would listen to her? No one. She was just a small light. Just a woman. She put her finger on her lower lip.  
“Sena.” She looked up when Beni walked over to her. The young man always had been nice to her up to this point and she kind of liked him. “Come on. Haruno called that he is on his way here. He wants to take you home.”  
Asako just nodded, followed Nene on her heels and felt Yurika in her back when they entered the club once again. She said goodbye to her friend who was taken back another hallway by Yurika while Beni took her back to hers.  
“So… How long will it take Osa to get here?”, she asked and pulled the fabric of her dress to loosen it up a bit.  
“He should be there soon. You just got enough time to get ready for him and to rest up a little bit.”  
“Thank you.” She looked down the hallway, however saw no one of the usual people watching the it. Instead of going inside her room immediately, she looked over to Beni once more. “Can I ask you something?”  
The Guard already made himself comfortable on the chair just at the corner of the very small hallway that led up to her room. He looked over to her and raised an eyebrow.  
“That depends.”  
“Do the rented girls always go outside if it’s a star renting them?”  
Beni scratched his cheek, pulled the hat down his face and almost over his eyes, closing them in the process and staying in this position.  
“No. They usually end up on the third floor”, he said in a silent, almost whispering voice. He surely was not supposed to talk about this.  
“There is a third floor to this building?”  
“Just let me continue talking. The third floor is special. It’s past the Queen’s and Princesses’ rooms and no one, not even the Guards, are allowed to interrupt the Stars there while they are doing whatever they please to the rented girls. That’s important to Gaichi.”  
“So… no Guards?”  
Beni growled.  
“Just get inside your room and get ready.”  
He pulled the hat once more inside his face and Asako smiled a bit. That was all she needed to know. Quickly she went inside her room, pulled close the door behind her. That very sudden idea somehow even appeared manageable to her. She got it when Mari had started talking to Nene. She may was a small light, but she was a woman after all. She once heard that behind every strong man, there was an even stronger woman. She just needed to become that strong woman and the first thing that came to her mind was being the most powerful woman in Sky Stage. She had to get rid of Shio, push her from her throne. However she was unsure if Gaichi would just give that place to her. She was called Hanagumi-bunny, but wasn’t even anywhere close to Shio’s score or in this case any score of the Princesses.   
Sighing she pulled out the money from under her corset, walked over to a small table and reached under it. There was a small, hidden drawer she pulled out and opened the box inside of it. Two very old looking bills were already inside of it. Surely leftovers from the last person who had lived in this room. Beside it was a small knife with stars and a symbol on it, she never had seen before. She put the money inside, put the drawer back under the table and started getting out of the dress, opening her hair afterward. She put on a white shirt over her exposed body, stood in front of the mirror in nothing more than her heels, her slip and the shirt. She looked terrible. Even under her make-up she could tell that she was tired but no one else ever noticed that. The door was opened behind her and Asako bit her bottom lip. Even Osa knocked before getting in. She turned on her heel and watched Shio pulling off the hat after closing the door.   
“How did you get inside here? Again I might add.”  
  
Toyoko put aside the hat she stole from Teru. Once more she made her Guard give the suit to her so she could sneak around unnoticed. Luckily, her breasts weren’t that big, so they were hidden very easily. She saw Sena and Nene coming back through her window and noticed Yurika playing boss by ordering Teru around. Toyoko still was mad that she had been interrupted before. She wasn’t done putting Sena in her place.  
“Did you think we’re done? Getting in was easy. I’m used sneaking around unnoticed.”  
Sena wasn’t as shocked as she was during her first visit, however she guessed that she was still under shock from meeting another Lead who was not called Haruno Sumire.   
“Why don’t you just leave me alone?”, Sena whimpered and walked over to the bed, stared on the floor. So she was scared after all. “I did nothing to you.”  
The blonde laughed slightly and walked over to the other woman, grabbed her chin and made her look up to her.  
“I don’t like being challenged. You will do what I tell you to. Then we can be best friends, darling.” Sena gulped and shook under her grip. Somehow she was cute with that scared look in her eyes. She made the other woman’s head turn, brushed her hair out of her face. She surely just had opened it. It wasn’t brushed and they were slightly sticky due to the hairspray. She couldn’t resist putting a small kiss on Sena’s neck, earned another whimper.  
“Stop it…”  
“You will like it. And you will say ‘Thank you’ for it.”  
Toyoko put her hands on the other woman’s back, pressed her close and sucked the flesh under her lips. Sena moaned silently, clawed her shoulders and tiptoed slightly. It seemed the little virgin liked it after all. She licked the small mark she left, grabbed the wrists after Sena grabbed her jacket, pulled it down her arms.   
“Please…”  
“Don’t worry, Sena”, the blonde growled into her ear. “We got enough time.”  
She pushed the smaller woman backwards so she landed on the bed. She crawled after her, pinned her down on her shoulders and bit the brunette’s bottom lip, earning another soft moan. She had to admit that she slowly got into it again. It had been some time since she was able to do something like this. Once again she sucked the soft flesh just behind the other’s ear, however earned a slight laugh. She was about to raise her head, yet Sena clawed the hair on the back of her head, holding her close.  
“You’re pathetic, Shio”, she heard whispering against her ear. “You have no idea. Not at all.”  
What the… What was that supposed to mean? She felt a soft bite on her ear before Sena inhaled, letting out a scream that rang inside her ears. Confused and shocked by that sudden reaction, she failed reacting immediately. Sena held her shoulders, stopped her from getting up completely, yet held her far enough away to let it seem differently. The door was thrown open and Beni rushed inside.  
“Get down, I said!”, Sena whimpered, tears inside her eyes. Beni reacted immediately, grabbed Toyoko’s shirt and pulled her back and away from the bed.   
“Are you crazy?” Beni stared at her while the blonde looked back and forth between Sena and the Guard. The brown-haired woman became small on the head-end of the bed, cried and shook. “What got into you?!”  
“I… I…”, she stammered, merely held up by Beni’s grip. Another person entered the room.  
“What the hell is happening here?”  
Beni’s eyes flew over to the new guest and only in the corner of her eye she noticed Sena jumping from her spot, running over into that direction. Her blouse was still half torn and she was in her underwear. Toyoko felt how she became pale.  
“Osa”, Sena cried when she ran inside the Hanagumi-Lead’s arms. “S-she… I’m so sorry… I… she just came in and… and…”  
Her voice broke and she buried her face inside her hands. Still the blonde couldn’t understand. She never had seen anyone changing from one mood into another so fast.  
  
And once more her instincts had been right. Osa decided to take Asako home earlier than she actually wanted to, just because she felt something was different than usual. She knew Shio sometimes sneaked around for her own entertainment, however she never guessed that she was so dumb to dare setting food in her pet’s room. Carefully she closed her arms around the smaller woman, held her close, however carefully pushed her away a few inches to take a better look at her. She was crying hard, shook and had a small mark on her neck. So the blonde even dared to touch her inappropriately. Quickly Osa took of her coat, laid it around Asako’s shoulders and kissed her forehead.  
“No need to be sorry, my dear”, the Hanagumi-Lead whispered. “I’m not mad at you.” She turned on her heel, faced Shio. “However…” Beni let go of her, walked back and Shio backed away when Osa walked over to her. “Who do you even think you are? You fake, little slut dare to touch what is mine?! You’re not even worth it!”  
  
Shio couldn’t even remember when she heard that angry tone of voice Haruno had. She looked over to Beni, who fled the room, hit the wall when she backed away even more.  
“I… I… please let me explain, Haruno…”  
She couldn’t talk further. The backhand of the Lead hit her hard and she fell on the floor. She felt the pain running through her face downward and small stars danced in front of her eyes just as she earned another kick in the stomach. She gasped for air, felt like throwing up for a second and Haruno kicked her once more in her side. She couldn’t even hear what he was yelling at her. The Lead grabbed her neck, pulled her up and Shio gasped for air. She felt like she was just a fish stuck on land and failed in her try to make Haruno loosen his grip. Her eyes found Sena’s. She still held the coat closed and smiled. Wait. She smiled? That little beast had tricked her. Yet just as the door was thrown open once again, her smile faded and she had that broken gesture on her face once more. Toyoko hit the wall a little too hard as she was thrown against it, caught and slipped on the floor.  
  
It had been some time since she wanted to spit on someone so badly, yet that little bitch didn’t deserve any different. No one, not even the Queen of Sky Stage, was allowed to touch what was hers. Just as she made another move towards the blonde, hoping to at least break some rips, she was held by her arms and pulled back. Still she gave Yurika and Beni a hard time holding her. She saw Gaichi entering, but was so fixed on Shio that she fought against the grip the two Guards had on her. Mattsu also entered the room, yet he stayed beside Asako.  
“How many times do I have to tell you that you are not allowed to lay hand on my girls, Haruno? Just before she has to get on stage, too”, Gaichi asked while he stepped between the blonde and the Hanagumi lead. Osa stood up straight, pulled her arms out of the Guards’ grip and growled.  
“I pay you to make sure that no one gets to her! I have all the right in the world to beat the shit out of her. Just be glad I’m not shooting you for breaking the deal.”  
“I didn’t break anything. It’s not my fault Shio’s Guard isn’t watching her properly. I will make sure he will pay for it.” The Senka-Star walked over to the blonde, made her look up and took a good look at her face before pulling her up by her arm. “Nothing important. Put make-up on it and it will be fine.” He turned to face Yurika. “Bring her to her room and make her stay there and get ready for the show. Send Teru over to my office. I think I need to have a little chat with him.”  
Osa wasn’t interested in it. While Yurika took Shio out of the room, she walked over to Asako, took her in her arms once more and let her softly sob against her chest. Carefully she pet the other woman’s hair. She ignored the chat Gaichi had with Beni, just heard the Star growling and saw Beni getting smaller on his spot while making excuses. The Star himself surely was the only person who wasn’t aware of the Queen’s little vacations. She just hoped that the Guard was beaten properly so that wouldn’t happen again. Once more she pressed a kiss on the woman’s forehead.  
“Get dressed. We go home.”  
  
Asako watched as Shio got dragged out of the room, gave her a cold glance. That had been way too easy. She was aware, that this was a dirty trick, but it did the job. In this world, friendliness was just a waste. Osa also showed her that her assumption was correct. When she just played her cards right, she could get what she wanted. If she planned more carefully, maybe she could not only get her peace from Shio, she may also could leave Japan for good.   
Later she sat together with Osa in the back of the car, pulled her slightly longer skirt and finished buttoning up her shirt. She was still mad that she didn’t get around those highheels. Her feet hurt and were swollen, but whatever. At least she was able to see Ai-chan again.   
“Show me that”, Osa suddenly said and pushed her head aside to look at the mark Shio left. “What did she do?”  
“She… she bit me and threw me on the bed.”  
“Nothing else?”  
“No. I screamed and Beni came in. You followed shortly after.” Asako got a bit closer to the Lead, took his hand and held it tightly. “Thank you. If it weren’t for you and Beni, I don’t know what would have happened.”  
The Lead looked at her in silence for a second.  
“Did someone else touch you?”  
Carefully she squeezed the hand of the Star tighter. She never told Osa that Gaichi let customers rent her for dancing or stripping for them. She never said a word about Gaichi demanding all the money or that Soragumi had rented her for tea. If she said something about it, Osa surely would get mad and she never had to go back there.  
  
“No. No one else. I was bored in my room the whole time if I was not on stage.”  
That was at least something. If the Senka-Star had broken this part of the contract as well, Osa surely would have ripped off some heads. She softly lifted the brown-haired woman’s hand to her lips, kissed it softly. No one was able to take this treasure from her. She was too precious.  
“At least something.”  
“That is…”  
Osa lifted her head and already felt her blood boiling.  
“What?”  
“Well… there was no touching involved…”  
“What happened? I swear if Gaichi gave you away…”  
“I never left Sky Stage if that’s what you mean. And I was never forced to do the things the other girls do. I just…”  
The Hanagumi-Lead blinked in confusion.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well… Beni came to me and took me to the third floor. There was this woman. A very strange one, too.”  
“What woman?”  
“I don’t know her. She was pretty. Long, deep brown locks but she was so small.” Asako giggled slightly. “She was almost one head shorter than me. And she had this strange clothes. I never saw so many ruffles in my entire life.”  
“What did she want from you?”  
“Tea. We drank some tea together, we talked and then she left. Beni took me back to my room then. She gave me this beautiful dress as a gift”, Asako said in excitement and smiled widely. Tea, strange clothes, ruffles, locks… that sounded terribly like Hanafusa Mari, or Lady Ohana as she was called. That may was the reason why Wao Youka was not on his usual spot. “She talks a lot.”  
Osa blinked and lifted her head.   
“So? What did she talk about?”  
“A lot of things. Sweets, cookies, cakes, pies, birds and dresses and so on. She also said something about her business running bad lately and something about… uhm… Germany I guess? I can’t remember. Yurika came in and ended the party.”  
What a shame, Osa thought to herself. If Ohana was talking so openly about shipping and the like, it would be to her advantage. Maybe her bunny was even more useful to her after all. The other clans seemed to show interest in her as well after all. She smiled.  
“Let’s drive home, okay? You can get ready there and I let the maids bring us some food.”  
The sweet smile Asako gave her made her forget about her rage.  
  
Quite some time later, Asako was under the shower, enjoyed the warm water and finally was able to wash the hairspray out of her hair. The chat with Osa could have gone better, but the Lead took the bait. She just had to pull him in. Asako just hoped that there was no sex involved in this. She still liked the idea of keeping her virginity until she felt it was right to give it up to someone she loved. After all she did defend herself on the streets quite well and keeping Osa away from her panties went well after such a long time, too. However she liked the idea of dancing in front of men who weren’t as disgusting as the ones she currently had. Maybe a small, friendly chat would be nice here and there as well. She didn’t have a lot of people to talk to aside from Osa, Ai, Nene and Mirio. Osa and Ai were always gone, Nene was always booked out and Mirio’s attention-span was that of a bug because of her drug-problem. She was nice, but got nervous easily and hyperactive.   
“Asako?”, Ai called out and Asako stuck her head out of the shower. “I put your stuff on the chair, okay?”  
“Thanks. Please tell me I get flat shoes for once.”  
Ai just smiled innocently and got a little smaller on her spot. She really was cute in her maid-dress and she seemed to be fine with it.  
“Sorry. I have to disappoint you. You got some pants if that lifts your mood. Well… if you can call that pants that is.”  
Asako moaned and rolled her eyes while she got back into the shower. Was is too much to ask NOT wearing heels for once? Her feet were killing her.  
“Thank you. I’m almost ready.”  
While she was still getting ready, taking her time while doing so, she thought about her next steps. Shio wouldn’t take it easy on her after what she did and after the beating she got from Osa. It would be even harder to get her score. She just had to think of something that would make her the center of attention. When the thought about it, the idea popped into her head and she grinned slightly.   
Smiling she got out of the shower, got dressed and pinned aside her hair before she got into the clothes. Well… pressed herself inside them really. Those things got tighter and tighter. Or she was putting on weight, but she scratched that thought out of her mind immediately. Gaichi wasn’t very generous when it came to food and even though Asako got herself some in Sky Stage, she shared it with Mirio and Nene or else the two girls would surely starve.   
Before she was ready completely, she was still fighting with the shoes which made her want to kill somebody, Ai-chan came back in.  
“What are you so happy about?”, the taller woman asked and Ai jumped on her spot in surprise.  
“Oh you’re still there. I thought you were already downstairs.”  
Asako laughed slightly, turned on the spot and corrected her Hair once more in the mirror.  
“As you see, no. Will you join me at the dinner?”  
In the mirror she saw Ai-chan shaking her head and staring on the floor. She raised an eyebrow.  
“Then why are you changing?”  
She pointed on the small pile of clothes the smaller woman took with her. Instead of telling her, the younger one became red and stood nervous on her spot. “Aha? Tell me.” She turned on her spot. “Why are you making yourself pretty? Well prettier than you already are.”  
Ai smiled shyly and pressed the pile of clothes harder against her chest.  
“Mattsu and I are going into the city. We need some new dishes and something for the windows. I’m allowed to accompany him and pick it out.”  
Asako grinned even wider and crossed her arms.  
“Oh? You sure? Dishes? Sounds more like a date to me.”  
“I hope it is one.”  
  
Osa was glad that dinner went on quickly. She hadn’t been hungry anyway and she was eager to talk to Asako in private. During dinner, the younger woman went on talking about what she did in Sky Stage, how bored she sometimes was and Osa could only imagine how it was to sit inside a room all day. Sure she always tried to make time sweeter for the young woman by giving her books, music and so on as gifts, but to be honest, she had no idea what the other woman liked. She took Asako with her into her private rooms on the second floor. It always had been her personal space and no one was allowed to enter anyways. Completely safe as well. Asako sat down beside her on the big couch.  
“Do you like it on stage, Asako?”, the Lead asked and smiled a little. The girl took another sip from the milk-shake she liked so much and licked her sensual lips. Why didn’t she already force that girl into bed with her? She usually wasn’t like that. Then again, she wanted to be the shining knight for her, protective, her god. She wanted Asako to love her.   
“I do”, she said and looked over to her. “But those old men are really creepy. They always want to touch me when I’m on stage.”  
“Do they touch you?”  
“No. I always keep away from the edge. They try to lure with money. At least I can stay on my spot. Nene and the others have to sit down and let them touch them.”  
“Whatever.” She didn’t want the conversation to turn out like that. Instead she decided to get to the point immediately. “What do you think about giving some smaller shows for less disgusting men? Maybe having more tea with them as well?”  
“Tea? You mean like that tea-party with that woman?”  
“Just like that.” The Star leaned back a bit. “You know… some men rent the girls there in order to have tea or dinner with them. Talking with them for amusement. Would you like that?”  
Asako crooked her eyebrows, sucked on the straw in her milk-shake before looking up at her once again.  
“Do I still need to dance?”  
Osa laughed.  
“Of course you do. You will be on the main stage but instead of being bored in your room, you can kill some time talking to other people. I know some of them might want you to dance for them, but you love to do that anyway.”  
Asako nodded shyly, started chewing on her bottom lip. She seemed unsure.  
“But… what am I supposed to talk about? I don’t know those people.”  
“That isn’t so difficult. Just make them take over the main part of the chat. Just ask them about themselves.”  
“Like?”  
“Their lives, how their day was, what they are doing, their work… things like that.”  
Once more the woman beside her smiled shyly and put aside her glass.  
“If you want me to, I can do that.”  
“I’m happy to hear that. Just try it out. You can tell me about it. If you don’t like it, just tell me and I will take you home.” Another nod and Osa took Asako’s hand, pressed a small kiss on her fingers. “Alright. Now that that’s settled, how about you dance for me? I rarely see you dance.”  
Just a small repayment. Asako wasn’t ready for sex yet. She didn’t want it even though Osa already tried everything to make her hot. However until she was, why not making her a spy as well?


	8. Eden's Snake

It had been some time since the Yukigumi-Star took over a deal herself instead of being lazy and let her Currents take over all of this, however she was looking forward to that meeting for even longer. Slowly she got out of her car after Ryuu Masaki, codename Masao, and her newest Guard Kazuho Sou, called Eritan. Time and time again she was impressed by this house and all that surrounded it. It was large, simply, yet beautiful and full of details. A perfect resemblance to his owner.  
“Hey Mizu”, Masao said, still over his phone. She still had no idea why he was so obsessed with technical stuff. “Why do you always come here? We could make this deal the usual way.”  
The Star laughed. Yes why? Maybe because this one was special. At least to her. The Yukigumi-Star was known for interfering in other people’s business on a regular basis, offering them help and made them bow to her will after that. This tactic helped her when Hoshigumi had murdered her mother. However when she made Soragumi and Tsukigumi pay back their depts, those bastards just got away after that. She was still impressed by how the assassin-clan Tsukigumi was able to vanish into thin air. The only way to interact with them was catching their Star Ayaki Nao at his favorite place in Sky Stage, yet she didn’t really like him. The only thing left was making business with them by contacting Tsukigumi’s Currents.   
“I don’t think that needs explanation. We just do what we always do when we’re here and leave when we’re done”, the Star said before she walked over to the entrance, her Guards close by. Two other Guards she knew opened the door, accompanied them into the guest’s room and Mizu sat down on the couch. Even though she was a guest, the host was nowhere to be seen. Eritan to her left seemed quite nervous on his place. The promotion had been rather sudden after all. If he wasn’t doing his job right, she would replace him as well. Just as the Star crossed her legs, the door was opened once more and a Guard entered.  
“Haruno begs your pardon”, Mattsu said in his typical, monotone voice. She could hardly understand him with that piece sugar in his mouth. “He will be a little late. It will just take a few minutes.”  
Mizu rolled her eyes and growled slightly. ‘A few minutes’ usually was a rather long time for the Hanagumi-Lead and the Yukigumi-Star hated waiting. Still cursing under her breath she took out a small case, pulled out one of the cigarettes. She was only smoking while stressed but she needed to calm down for the moment. There was nothing worse than waiting. While she lit the tip, she already knew Haruno would get angry with her. She was not supposed to smoke inside the house, however she didn’t care. While inhaling the smoke, she watched one of the maids cleaning the top of a shelf. Mizu couldn’t remember seeing her before. She was rather cute while she was jumping on her spot since she was too small to reach up to it. The very short, almost non-existent skirt was bouncing up and revealed some cute, white panties. Mizu glanced over to Masao, still over his phone, and grinned slightly when his eyes looked up just a bit, enjoying the scenery given. She grinned wider. As cute and cuddly her Guard was, inside he was just another dirty old man.  
“Ai-chan”, the suddenly angry voice of Mattsu was heard at the door. The maid turned around, watched the Guard and blinked in surprise. “Go and help in the kitchen. Don’t disturb our guests.”  
Mizu just raised an eyebrow. Was that jealousy she heard from the usually so calm Guard? Seems like the coldest Guard she ever met fell in love with a simply maid. Cute. Amusing and interesting at the same time. The Yukigumi-Star didn’t expect that to happen ever. Whatever. The girl, Ai-chan she guessed, turned on her spot, bowed deep with a mumbled apology and fled the room, Mattsu right behind her. Mizu turned to Masao, who was just looking after the girl and then back on his phone. Maybe he was playing a game.  
“Sweet girl, don’t you think?”, the Star asked out loud and Masao grinned slightly.  
“Very cute. Nice legs. Do you think I’m allowed to borrow her for a night or two?”  
Mizu laughed, blew out the smoke and leaned back.  
“Maybe. I can ask for it.”  
Between Yukigumi and Hanagumi, it was pretty common that Mizu gave some of Haruno’s girls to her own members in order to distract them from snatching away a few of her drugs. Just because it was Yukigumi’s main business to deal with this didn’t mean she allowed that any kind of hallucinogens were taken by its members. She liked being alive after all. In exchange, Haruno bought a huge amount of her drugs to make her own goods calm down and shut the fuck up. It made life easier for all of them.  
“I thought I told you that you are not allowed to smoke in here”, the strict voice echoed through the room and Mizu looked over her shoulder to the second entrance to the room where Haruno just pulled down his hat. The Yukigumi-Star grinned widely before pressing the tip of her cigarette inside the dark earth of the pot that was right next to her. The plant would appreciate it. She still had no idea why the Hanagumi-Star was so obsessed with flowers. Aside from the clan’s name giving it away that was.  
“I have to spend my time somehow if you decide not to show up.”  
“Distract yourself otherwise. You’re in my house. These are my rules.”  
Mizu sighed.  
“Sure. Whatever you say.”  
She watched Haruno walk around the couch and her Guards, had Romu right behind him and kind of looked angry and was damn sexy while looking like that. Every other person surely would have thought two times about staying while the Lead was in this mood. He liked to watch heads being chopped off of shoulders to lift his mood. However the Yukigumi-Star simply watched Haruno placing his perfect slim body inside the perfectly sewn suit on the couch, leaned back and put his hands on his upper legs. Romu typed something inside his phone. A gesture Mizu already knew. Just a few seconds later, a maid entered, Haruno ordered his tea and just as the devil himself was after her, the girl rushed out again to get the order. Some things never changed. When she looked back, she noticed Haruno watching her new Guard.  
“So”, the deep voice began again and Mizu felt a shiver running down her spine. “You got another new Guard? What happened? I thought you liked the last one so much.”  
“He was perfect. But Tsukigumi crossed his way. Little bastards.”  
Osa laughed out loudly, took his cup and a sip of his tea.  
“Does this mean you had another crossfire? You really need to stop doing that.”  
“It wasn’t my fault. I wasn’t even anywhere near there. He just happened to be close to where Tsukigumi had a job, I suppose.”  
She looked at Haruno and he looked over to a newspaper. The headline was the same as it was for at least a few days. A politician, murdered with a clean headshot, had been found in his office. Naked as well. No clues of who the murderer was. A clear sign for Tsukigumi.  
“So it was Tsukigumi after all. How was your Guard included?”  
“He just happened to be in the same building. Later that evening, Masao sent me a message…” Mizu looked over to her Guard who was still tapping on his phone. “… that he found him with a clean, broken neck somewhere in the hallway. It’s a shame, really.”  
Osa simply laughed.  
  
Somewhere else, a young woman dragged herself out of bed, still smiling and fighting with herself not to fall again. Instead she walked over to a chair, took a deep green bathrobe with white edges and threw it over her exposed body. Quickly she pulled it close and walked over to the door. She felt so heavy and exhausted, however kept smiling. She hated dealing with those men, but what was she supposed to do? She had no free will in here. Her advantage was that she was one of what Gaichi liked to call ‘Princesses’, a small group of women with the highest score in Sky Stage. The one with the highest score was called ‘Queen’. She was expensive, had a luxurious life and the title was claimed by Shio as long as she could remember. Yet there were rumors that she finally met his match in a young girl from the first floor, yet she doubted that. She saw the girl once. The bunny was pretty, that was sure, but she didn’t have the bite to throw Shio off her throne. None of the princesses had the guts to question Shio’s leadership. Then again why should she question it? She was Mizu Natsuki’s favorite, the Yukigumi-Princess and that came with advantages. She had good food, pretty clothes, at least some free time even though she was only allowed to stretch her legs while getting watched. The only thing that mattered to Gaichi was the money. Once in a while she was even allowed to visit the third floor. The second floor was already reserved for well-paying costumers, usually CEOs and Guards, however the third floor was a pure dream. It was like a small villa and had everything the heart desired. It was just one giant room with a small kitchen, a big table, a TV that covered most of that one wall, a big couch that separated the room a little and even had a small pool. Not to mention the bed that was more of a sea of softness in the corner of the room. She loved going there, however only very few people could actually afford going there. But she liked going there especially because it was more relaxing than everything else. The people who usually could afford going there, that included mostly the Clan’s Stars, were not allowed to have sex with the girls. An unwritten rule of the underground and an unwritten rule of Sky Stage. Sure, the girls mostly gave a show there, let themselves getting touched by whoever rented them, yet she liked it because it was almost tender. She sighed softly for herself just thinking about it.  
When the quite old man walked over to her, took her hand and pressed a kiss on it, she forced on another smile. She hated that forced on sympathy. Yet she had no choice. It was her life and she had worked hard for this position.   
“Do I see you again soon, darling?”, she said with a slightly moaning voice, stepped closer to the man and let her hand run down his upper body. She knew this man was under Yukigumi-influence, so she had to play along. “I will miss you so much.”  
“I will come again soon. I promise”, the man said smiling and walked out of the door, walked right into her personal Guard, handing over some money. Tips were another one of those unwritten rules. As soon as the door was closed, she walked over to her cupboard, opened a drawer and pulled out another panty. She didn’t even try making herself look nice. Instead she just waited for her Guard to come in, gave her a small part of the tip and brought in the next costumer. Talking about him, the young man entered shortly after. For some reason Gaichi had a thing for those teens lately. Rumors said that those were mostly former Hoshigumi-members. She didn’t mind actually. The young faced made a change inside here.   
“Hello? Are you even listening?”  
She jumped on her spot, pulled close her bathrobe once again.  
“Damn, Micchan. Stop scaring me like that.”  
The young man laughed slightly. Micchan, she didn’t even know his real name, hadn’t been a member of Senka for very long. She heard that Tom once picked him up and Micchan owned him a favor and he was made her Guard. He walked over to her, handed over a few bills to her.  
“I don’t scare you on purpose. You just tend to dream, Kei.”  
Kei. She hated that name. It was the name she was given when she first was named on stage. Takeshiro Kei. The girls usually called her Kashi. She wasn’t even sure if she could remember her real name properly.  
“That doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of it every time.”  
She took the money, flipped through it and let it slip under the waistband of her panties. She would put it away after she took a quick shower. She turned on her heel and searched for a towel.   
“But I like taking advantage of it.”  
She only noticed it in the corner of her mind, squealed out loudly when the flat palm landed on her barely covered but. She stood up straight, felt Micchan’s body close to hers and felt the hot breath on her ear. Almost fondly he let his hand run over her hip and on her upper leg. Kashi tried hard not to moan out loud, bit her bottom lip instead. Being touched was one thing, she was used to that, but Micchan had a thing to make her hot and just leave her shortly after in frustration. “Go and make yourself pretty. You get an important visit.”  
The Princess blinked in confusion, turned a bit and still felt the hot breath on her cheek. She also felt Micchan’s very particular smile.  
“What visit?”  
“An old friend of yours.”  
“You’re not going to tell me who it is?”  
“No. You have one hour. Make yourself pretty.”  
Once more the Guard felt her bottom, made the Princess gasp and then left her just standing there. Important visit… whatever. She needed new panties.  
  
Business was only meant to be for a short time and the two Stars started chatting instead. It happened every time. Mizu had ordered a coffee, black as she liked it, and only looked around a few times to make sure everything was still as it meant to be. She was the head of the drug-dealing-business after all and busy. However instead she had a nice coffee, chatted and enjoyed the drink. However made it was a genius.   
“Tell me… that new maid you have there: where did you pick her up?”, the Yukigumi-Star asked and just took a short glance at Mattsu before looking over to Masao. “What was her name again?”  
“Ai-chan”, he said without looking up from his phone. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Mattsu’s face changing for just a split second.  
“Oh Ai-chan”, Haruno said with a slight smile on his lips. “I don’t have her for long. But she’s hardworking. I think I will keep her.”  
Big words coming from the Hanagumi-Lead. He usually got rid of every girl who didn’t fit inside his beloved uniforms.  
“How sad. Does this mean I can’t lend her?”  
Haruno just grinned wider, stroke the porcelain of his teacup.  
“I have to disappoint you. My angel would be sad if I would. Even more if something would happen to her.”  
Mizu felt how she lost control over her expressions for a moment. She never heard that tone of voice from the Hanagumi-Lead. It was almost… tender.  
“Your… angel? Excuse me?” No answer. Instead he stared on his cup with that smile on his face. “Haruno? Are you even listening? I’m talking to you.”  
“Hm?” Haruno looked up, giggled softly. “I’m sorry. I was lost in thoughts for a second. She’s just the newest addition to my collection. A real treasure if you ask me. Gaichi tries to buy her from me ever since I agreed to let her stay in Sky Stage as long as I’m busy.”  
“You’re not talking about that bunny, are you?”  
“Bunny?”  
The lead raised an eyebrow and looked at her in confusion.  
“Sena Jun. That new girl on stage. I thought you would just make her your favorite and she belongs to Gaichi.”  
Laughing, Haruno threw his head back. She only heard rumors that Haruno was obsessed with that new Hanagumi-bunny and was about to make her the new Hanagumi-princess, yet it seemed that there was more to that.  
“Gaichi wished he could have her. He offered me quite some money for her, but no. She stays with me. She is mine.”  
Mizu just smiled over the anger that rose up inside her. Just grin and bear it was her motto.  
“How does it come? She is just another girl. I don’t see anything special about her.”  
“She can do much more than look pretty and dance. I just know there is more to her than she is ready to show me now and I want to discover that talent of hers instead of letting Gaichi ripping it out and breaking it.” Mizu watched as Haruno put down his cup, crossed his fingers and smiled at her. “Just take a look at her yourself if you please. She is free for renting.”  
The Yukigumi-Star continued smiling in silence for a few seconds, but she knew she had that glance in her eyes that had given her her nickname so long ago.   
“Maybe I will. But I think I need to go now. Work and appointments don’t do themselves.”  
Mizu said goodbye to the Hanagumi-lead a little bit too formal, yet her mind was set on different things. Just as she sat down in the back of the car, her smile fainted and she kicked the seat in front of her so hard that Eritan gasped for air for a second before clawing the wheel once more. Masao put away his phone on the passenger’s seat and turned to face her.  
“Why so pissed off, Eden?”, the Guard asked. Eden was just the short form for ‘Eden’s Snake’, the nickname she was called when she was obviously pissed off. The high horses of the underground all had these little nicknames. Gaichi’s was ‘The Watcher’.   
“What do you know about this girl Haruno was talking about?”  
The Yukigumi-Star knew she just had to put Masao on the trail. He wasn’t especially the hacker-type, but he knew about pretty much all the gossiping that was going around.   
“Not much. Just that he picked her up from the streets. No one has ever seen her before.”  
“What is her name?”  
“Sena Jun.”  
“I know that. I mean her real one. That one was obviously given by Haruno.”  
“Haven’t heard it from everyone. Even if anyone knows, I bet Haruno will shoot him before he has the chance to talk. He does everything to avoid his little bunny getting harmed.”  
Once more Mizu growled.   
“I guessed that”, she said and kicked the seat in front of her once again to get Eritan’s attention. “Give Gaichi a message that I want to take a closer look at her. Rent her for a few hours for me.”  
“Alright but…”, Eritan started and gulped. “I doubt that Gaichi will let her out once more.”  
“Why is that?”  
“I heard Soragumi rented her not so long ago”, Masao interfered. “If she is for hiring, the third floor will have to do.”  
  
Clean, dressed and with her make-up on, Kashi stood in front of her mirror, once more checked her make-up and put on some lipstick. As she was told, she prepared for an important guest, however important was always a very vague thing. Some liked a lot of glitter, high heels and a dress with nothing under it, some expected the ladies to show up just in their underwear, another had a thing for uniforms. The possibilities were endless, yet they had all one thing in common: high shoes, as less underwear as possible. Because of that, she put on a short dress that ended just above her knee and because it was all white, it showed more than it hid. The high heels made her legs longer. All of this was once a present from a person precious to her and she still hoped it was him visiting her. Not even in front of Gaichi she had this much respect as she had in front of him.   
“Kei?”, it came from the room right next to her dressing room. “Are you ready? We need to go.”  
Sighing, the young woman turned in front of the mirror once more before she walked out, meeting Micchan with a very uneasy look on his face. Just as he saw her, he let out a silent whistle.  
“Nice. You should wear this more often.”  
Kashi rolled her eyes. Men were pigs, especially those running around in here. She stepped back when Micchan walked up to her.  
“You stay away. I don’t want you to ruin my dress or my make-up.”  
“Oh come on. I just want to take a look.”  
“New to me that you can look with your hands. You just want a show for free.”  
“It would be nice if you would give me one for once.” The Guard scratched his cheek and sighed. His beeper broke the silence. The sign that the guest was ready. “Fine. Let’s go.”  
Kashi raised her eyebrow. She usually got guests in her own room.  
“Go? Where?”  
“Third floor.”  
Once more she blinked. She expected ‘important’ visit, but not that important that she was allowed to go to the third floor. Kashi gulped. That meant that she had to be careful what to do. If it was Mizu calling for her once more, the threat was great that he said that he didn’t want her to be Yukigumi-princess anymore. She still was afraid of that day. Slowly she followed Micchan, passed the other’s rooms and went up a staircase with a red carpet on it instead of walking around it. Walking around to the end of the hallway was forbidden for all of them if they were not asked to. Behind the staircase was a small rehearsal room where they were able to exercise for the show and it also contained the Queen’s room at the very end of the hallway.   
Once they passed the first door, Kashi took the opportunity to smell the much cleaner air up there before passing Micchan and walked through the second door that was locked behind her. Everything up there was so expensive, stolen from museums or illegal things bought from Hoshigumi. Still it was beautiful. Yet who she found there was unexpected.  
“Komu!”, she cried out somewhere between joy and excitement. “What… what are you doing here?”  
The man, quite small and fragile, turned a bit on his heel and smiled the oh so typical smile for him. No she didn’t expect his face anytime soon. The Yukigumi-princess knew the chief of the police ever since she first came to Sky Stage. However his name ‘Komu’ was a leftover from his days when he still was a part of the clans. It was once said that he was the heir of one clan’s Star-status, yet no one knew why he chose this path instead. The former Current was known for having his own head all the time, refused orders and that interfered with the strict policy that Tsukigumi liked to have. Because of his skills, he survived when he decided to leave the clan and went for a career inside the police-department. He had been one of the greatest assassins in the underground after all and was quite knowledgeable in hacking. These days, he used his position to help out all the clans alike. That was, when he was paid enough.   
“I thought it is time to visit my girl once again”, she said and walked over to her, took her hand and gave her a slight kiss on her fingers. “I was gone for a while after all.”  
Kashi simply smiled and followed the small man over to the couch, sat down beside him. She felt his eyes upon her.  
“I was actually hoping you would wear the black dress I got you once. I don’t know this one.”  
The Yukigumi-Princess looked down, blushed and started knitting her fingers. She couldn’t say she expected a different person. Komu and the man she got this dress from hated each other.  
“I got it from Gaichi”, she lied and looked into Komu’s dark eyes. If she looked away, he knew what was going on. “I didn’t expect you, so I didn’t put on the black one.”  
Komu laughed slightly, put the back of his slim fingers on her cheek and let them run down. For a second, Kashi allowed herself to close her eyes.  
“Take it off.”


	9. Meet the Queen

“Asshole”, she cursed, walked over the two dead bodies in uniforms and continued running down the hallway. She heard people shouting in the small hallways from deeper inside, gunshots here and there and footsteps. It was like hell broke loose just in order to catch them. Luckily they all knew that building even though everything looked the same. The walls were plain white, a little yellow here and there. It was supposed to be an easy task, just something small to check out a few Shinkos they had. No one expected the whole situation to get that much out of hand. Quickly she slipped inside one of the rooms, avoided some men running past it in the process and hid behind a desk. All that was in the room was said desk, one like many other, an old computer, some papers and books and a window with some curtains in front of it to block out everything from outside. For a second she caught her breath.  
“Kiriyan!” The voice screamed out of the button-like microphone in her ear. “Kiriyan are you there? Say something if you’re still alive.”  
She growled, let the pistol with the silencer on top of it stay in her hand and pressed the small button   
on the microphone.  
“I am alive. Barely.”  
“What happened.”  
“Thank you for caring so much for my well-being.”  
Kiriyan was in quite a bad mood and AHi wasn’t making it any better. It would have been so easy if it hadn’t been for that damn Shinko.  
“As long as you’re alive enough to yell at me you can’t feel that bad. You can get some sweet-talk later.” A shot was heard inside the hallway and the Guard jumped behind one of the chairs. “Now give me a summary.”  
“How short do you want it?”, she asked, lowered her voice even more and listened to a group running past the door.  
“As short as possible.”  
“One of the Shinkos freaked out and now I’m stuck in the sixth floor of this fucking building.”  
“Who was it?”  
“I don’t know. I was too busy running for my life. We got separated and hell broke loose in here.”  
“I know that already. I’m still searching for the others but they improved on the security system.”  
At first they had been six people. It was supposed to be an easy task just to show the Shinkos how to slip into a building, kill the target and get out again unnoticed. Aside from her, there had been two Shinkos, two Currents and AHi waiting outside. The boss would hit her for sure. No one cared for the Shinkos, but one of the Currents got shot and if the second one died as well, she would sure be the next to follow. And all of this just because that one Shinko had freaked out. Before she could even react, police was all over the place.  
“Get out of there”, AHi growled aggressively into her ear and Kiriyan simply growled back, leaned against the table and stared on the window.  
“What do you think I’m doing over here? Sightseeing? You have it easy sitting outside.”  
“The boss will angry with me if something happens to you.”  
“Just make sure the police gets out of here.”  
“I can’t. Komu cut the connection. I can’t get into their server.”  
“Are you useful for anything, AHi? Fuck you!”  
“Just hang on for five more minutes okay? I’m working on it.”  
“I don’t have…”  
A clicking made her flinch and she felt her body stiffen. The barrel was pointed right at her temple and she couldn’t even see who held the pistol.  
“Kiriyan?” The light inside the room made it even harder to spot out where the attacker was. Instead she slowly raised her hands. “Kiriyan!”  
“I told you to be more careful.”  
Kiriyan gulped and her shoulders and hands fell down. The pistol pointed away from her and she looked up.  
“Shit! Don’t scare me like that!, she cursed and got up from her spot. Who was she expecting anyway? No one else ever was able to sneak up on her like that.   
“It’s not my fault if you prefer arguing with your girlfriend instead of paying attention.” The older man pressed the button to talk into the microphone inside his ear. “AHi. How long will it take you?”  
Kiriyan heard the relieved sigh and the man’s fingers hitting the buttons on the other end.  
“Just a few seconds…” A short moment of silence. “Are officers supposed to have porn on their computers?”  
“AHi!”  
“Yes I know. Wow that one is rather cute.”  
“Do your fucking job or I swear I will fucking murder you!”  
“Alright, alright. Don’t rush an artist. I’m in already. Am I allowed to keep that stuff I found?”  
“Whatever.”  
“Okay!” The voice became rather happy and rolling her eyes, Kiriyan got up from her spot, still watching the door. The Guard noticed Shimon, Shimon Yuriya or something like that but he was one of the Shinkos, standing beside the door and peeking outside. It became much quieter outside. AHi interrupted once more. “Alright. Most of them are outside. There are groups in the first, second, forth, seventh and eighth floor. By the way: was it necessary to make such a mess on the fifth and sixth floor?”  
“Just tell us how we can get outside!”, Kiriyan hissed and the older man beside her raised his hand to silence her.  
“Calm down, Kiri.” He turned to talk into the microphone once again. “AHi. We need a little explosion.”  
“Where and how big do you want it?”  
“On the first floor on the back entrance.”  
“Well it’s always a pleasure to blow something up for you, but why there? You can’t get outside once I do.”  
“Everyone will run there hoping to catch us there. We will take the front entrance just like gentlemen.”  
“Everything you say, boss.”  
Kiriyan took that time to reload the weapon, looked back to the older man chatting on the phone , walked through the room as if it was the most normal thing on earth. If he didn’t happen to be the best assassin Tsukigumi had to offer, Kiriyan surely would have yelled at him. Instead she used the time to remember the outline of the building.   
“How do we get downstairs?”, she asked and looked over to her elder.  
“We take the stairs. Unless somebody saw you.”  
“No. I made sure of that. I’m not staying inside a cupboard all day again.”  
The older man laughed.  
“Fine. Then we’ll go.” She looked over to the Shinko. “You two will watch my back. We search for a group of policemen. We need uniforms.”  
Kiriyan just nodded, pulled up her gloves once more before following the older man with Shimon right beside her. They stayed close to the walls, quickly found the staircase. Screams and yells were heard all over the place searching for them. They peeked inside.  
“Why are there so many people? No one knows it’s us. Actually no one knows we’re here.”  
“I know a person”, the elder said and Kiriyan looked up at him. “Komu has his dirty fingers in this. Let’s do him a favor.”  
While they made their way down to the second floor unnoticed, Shimon turned to face her, lowered his voice and started whispering.  
“What are we doing now exactly?”  
Kiriyan paid close attention to her surroundings. The policemen had to be around here somewhere.  
“We take the uniforms, disguise ourselves and get out.”  
“Why don’t we take those of the ones we already killed?”  
“There is blood on them and holes. It’s easiest to disappear if you look like everybody else. Damaged uniforms cause suspicion.”  
“But…”  
The elder covered Shimon’s mouth with his hand, pulled the younger man with him and Kiriyan hid behind a corner. Just two seconds later they heard steps in the hallway heading into their direction. The small group retreated into one of the rooms, hid behind the door and opened it far enough to cause suspicion. Kiriyan put away her weapon just as the two other did. The whole action was rather quick. Just as the men entered the room, they broke their necks and started undressing them. It was part of their training to do it as quickly as possible, so it was just a matter of minutes until they got rid of their own jackets and trousers and changed into the uniforms. She also grabbed the pistol the dead man held and put it inside her belt.   
“And what to do with the bodies?”, the Shinko asked, put on the hat. Kiriyan already started pulling the bodies together on a small pile and the elder threw their clothes onto it as well.  
“Destroy evidence”, the Guard said, pulled out matches from the jacket before throwing it on the pile.  
“AHi”, the elder whispered into the microphone. “Turn off the alarm.”  
“Already did that.”  
Kiriyan smiled and set the small pile on fire.  
“Remember that”, the Guard started and turned to Shimon. “Always destroy all evidence that you were somewhere. We don’t exist.”  
‘Just as the light of the moon’, she added in her thoughts. It was Tsukigumi’s motto and the members lived it to the fulles. They were nothing more than a shadow. When they got out of the room, they pulled close the door behind them. Until someone noticed, they would be already gone.   
It was easy reaching the ground floor inside the uniforms and just as they reached the last stairs, Kiriyan gave the sign to AHi. Seconds later, the ground shook because of a small explosion on the other end of the building and in the matter of a few more moments, the ground floor was filled with policemen. The Current gave the sign to split up and Kiriyan headed for the entrance through a parallel corridor.   
“Wait!”, someone called out to her and made her stop and turn around. “Where do you think you’re going?”  
The man coming up to her was taller than her, thin, but she knew that face. The Guard lifted her hat just a bit, touched the tip of her right ear as if brushing back her hair.  
“Heading for the front entrance”, she said and was stared at for a moment. The man turned and ran away once more. Kiriyan just grinned. At least spies were useful at some point. She ran down the corridor, out of the building and met up with the other two people there. They headed past another group of policemen, entered a car right behind the barricade. AHi threw aside his laptop, started the car and drove off.  
“Damn that was close”, the Guard said and let her head fall back on the backrest.  
“I’m getting too old for this child’s-play”, the Current growled and took off the hat. Kiriyan laughed and patted the elder on the shoulder.  
“You’re still the best of us, Zunko.”  
“I know.”  
Zunko, the codename for Shizuki Asato, was their teacher and also mentor of Saeko and Wataru, however refused to take over the duty of a Guard. He always said that he was happy to serve Tsukigumi as Current. Still he was in favor of the Tsukigumi-Lead, the Stars and was feared all over Tokyo. Only a few aside Tsukigumi-members ever had seen his face. The Shinko sat beside him, took off his hat and panted slightly, rubbing the sweat off his forehead with a shaking hand.  
“Well done. Not bad for your first order”, Kiriyan said, grinning over to him. Zunko in the front of the car beside AHi just let out an agreeing sound.  
“T-thank you”, he panted and gulped. Talking about Shinko…  
“What did you two do to the second Shinko? What was his name?”  
“Tsucchii”, Shimon said and leaned back a bit. “I shot him. He was way too loud.”  
Kiriyan laughed out loudly.  
“Well done. I will tell Ayaki about it.”  
“Thanks.”  
“I tell you something”, Kiriyan started once more and leaned back in her seat. “How about we just tell the boss how this went, pick up the Stars and we head over to Sky Stage?”  
“You pay, Kiriyan”, Zunko said with a grin on his face.  
“Do you ever pay for yourself? Fine. Let’s just celebrate the kid’s first success. I heard the show tonight is rather big.”  
Zunko laughed on his spot.  
“Gaichi thought up something new, I heard. He just loves portraying his golden goose.”  
  
Around the same time in Sky Stage, Asako stood in front of her mirror, cleaned, her make-up on and ready for the big show. She forced herself wearing a tight corset covered with sparkling stones, a black leather slip over her actual one that barely covered her butt. On her corset was a long piece of cloth that shone through, had glitter all over it and a few feathers attached on the edges. While the whole costume was held in black and red, her highheels were also of a deep red color, she stuck some red and black feathers inside her hair, pinned it up and put in some curls. Everything for shining on stage and Osa’s little gift was doing its job. The evening was just a little setup by Gaichi to show of the Princesses and the Queen, just a way to lure more costumers into Sky Stage with a show. Even the servants on the first floor had been forced to rehears and she could hardly imagine what the Princesses were put through. As far as she knew, Sky Stage was booked out, every seat was sold for around double the price. Why not taking this as advantage? Asako was willed to use every opportunity to raise her score, every opportunity to get Queen-Shio down from her throne. Once more she corrected a feather inside her hair.  
“Are you ready?”, Beni called and Asako pulled close the corset once more.  
“Yes. Did you do what I asked you to do?”  
“Sure. Just hold your end of the bargain.”  
“Don’t be concerned.” She walked over to her Guard, smiled and softly pet his cheek. “We’re even after this. Just think about what I told you, okay?”  
The Guard rolled his eyes, let her walk past him and the two made their way to the back-area of the grand stage.  
  
Shio was still on the third floor on the couch. She had no idea how long she was supposed to wait, fell asleep at one point after she just took a drink. It was supposed to be a small visit just before the show but still she was angry about it. She rather would have relaxed a bit more. Then again she was still waiting and lost track of time. If her life wouldn’t depend on this job, she wouldn’t do it at all. She had an easy life sometimes, sure, but it wasn’t exactly what she dreamed of. She stared inside her empty glass. If that little fucker wasn’t turning up soon, she would use the extra time to get some more sleep. She laid down on the couch, put up her legs, but just as she did, the door was thrown open and out of reflex she jumped behind the couch.  
“Shio? Shio! Damn I know you’re up here”, Teru’s voice called out for her and she got up from her spot.  
“Damn Teru! Stop scaring me like that! I thought… fuck. Just don’t do that again.”  
The Guard didn’t seem to care. Instead he ran over to her, painfully grabbed her arm.  
“Who do you even think you are? First you let yourself get caught sneaking around and now this! Gaichi will strangle both of us! He’s already downstairs, the show is about to start and you’re not there! He’s raging!”  
  
Saeko, together with her brother, Kiriyan, Yuuhi, her mentor Zunko and a cute Shinko, already had entered Sky Stage some time ago, sat down on their usual spot at the bar. They already ordered a few drinks while letting Kiriyan pay all of them. Sure they could have paid for them themselves, however Zunko seemed to be positive that it was the right time to let Kiriyan pay all of them for nearly blowing the job they were supposed to do. Once in a while, she looked on her watch and on the stage. The room was bursting with people, way too many to feel comfortable, but the show promised to be good. If it would finally start already.   
“Shouldn’t it start already?”, Yuuhi asked and looked over to Wataru. Her brother decided to put on a very short dress once more that barely reached his knees. No one would dare getting close to him anyway, not with Saeko around. Even though it was Saeko being the younger one, she was able to act the jealous, possessive boyfriend pretty well.  Yet her Guard was right. The show was supposed to have started at least half an hour ago. If her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her, she saw Gaichi at the entrance of the stage not so long ago. He seemed to be pretty pissed off, too, after not finding what he searched for.  
“Maybe one of his babies is lost”, Wataru joked in unusual high voice, giggled like a girl and crossed his abnormal long legs. Just as she thought about it, the Princesses and a few other girls came out, ran down the stage to their places. In the dark, she only noticed the sparkling corsets, short panties and something she surely wanted to call ‘ass-skirts’. Just a piece of tulle that reached down to the floor. They resembled the colors of each clan, Saeko still thought this was a stupid idea, but whatever. She noticed Wataru’s favorite, the Tsukigumi Princess, as well, clinging to a pole and revealing her well shaped body.   
The light became even darker and a thin body slipped on the middle of the stage, turned on her spot when the first notes were heard in the room. It became dead-silent aside from that.   
  
_(Music ©Buck Tick – Ijin no Yoru)_  
  
 _Katame no kuroneko ga yuku doko kara kita no darou (A one eyed black cat goes by, I wonder where it came from)_  
 _Yamiyo wo yokogitteyuku doko e yuku no darou (Traversing the dark night, I wonder where it's going)_  
 _Sono toki dareka ga naita dare ni mo shirarezu ni (That time, someone cried but I didn't even know who)_

That voice… That wasn’t Shio singing on stage. She moved her hips let her hands run down her sides and slowly removed the skirt that had been attached to the corset before. It wasn’t hard to see that all the attention was pinned on her as she slowly turned around.  
 _  
Ijin ni te wo hikareteita akai kutsu wo haki (Led by the hand of a foreigner, wearing red shoes)  
  
_ “That’s the Hanagumi-bunny”, Wataru whispered. Saeko just sat there with her mouth slightly opened. The bunny walked to the edge of the stage, got on her knees and gave a hot glance down to the man sitting right on the edge. After sitting up straight, Saeko thought she recognized him as Wao Youka. _  
  
 _Natsu ga yuku hanabira makichirashiyuku (Summer passes away and the flower petals scatter and die)__  
 _Azayaka ni maichiru makka na sora e (Vividly they flutter down to a crimson sky)  
  
_ _The woman turned a bit on her place, sat one foot on the long table right in front of the stage. Carefully she stepped in between the drinks while continuing singing her song, made it look like it was the easiest thing of the world. Just as she reached the end, she bent down to fetch the glass that was there, sat down on the edge of the table and put her heel in between the legs of the man right in front of her. Aran Kei, Hoshigumi-Star.  
  
Ashita ga aru to suru nara kirei na sora ga ii (If they're there tomorrow it would be nice, the sky would be pretty)_  
 _Yamiyo ga sotto tsubuyaku mou kaerenai yo (A soft murmur in the dark night, please don't go home)_  
  
She reached out for him, put his hand under his chin and pulled him close. Carefully, almost sensual she put the glass on his lips, let him sip on it. When she pulled the glass back, she spilled just a few drops that were running down her legs. After she put the glass away, she simply got up in front of the man, let her fingers run over his cheek.  
  
 _Tsuki ga yuku matsuge ga furuwaseteyuku (The moon passes away, eyelashes trembling you pass away)_  
 _Furisosogu kohaku ni bisshori nureta (A downpour, drenched in amber and wet)_  
  
In the corner of her eyes, Saeko noticed that a few of the girls stopped dancing on stage. She knew that the girls were not allowed to leave the stage, even less to get in contact with costumers. However Sena seemed to know where to draw the line. When a man tried to reach out for her, she simply walked away, headed for the table where Haruno sat down with Mizu Natsuki. Still she couldn’t decide what made her think more of sex right now. Sena’s movements or her voice.  
  
 _Shikumareteita wana hajime kara wana (Crying and exhausted, go to sleep then no one will be there)_  
 _Nakitsukarete nemuru soshite daremo inaku naru (A plotted trap, from the start it was a trap)_  
  
She only flirted shortly with Mizu by taking his hat, holding it while leaning down to him and pressing it against his face just as he leaned in a bit. Instead she walked around him, sat down on Haruno’s lap for a second and letting her slim fingers run over his cheek and jawline, got up again. Saeko gulped when she noticed her walking into their direction, past the other men and stopping right beside Wataru. Her brother seemed to be rather amused by this. Sena pushed herself between Wataru and Saeko, so the Tsukigumi-heir had quite a pretty view on her legs while Sena leaned over to her brother. She only saw how Sena led her brother’s hand, pulling out a violet cloth from under that tight corset. Saeko felt her cheeks getting hot. She bended down a bit more, let Wataru touch her leg firmly and taking the cloth between her teeth. Just as Wataru released it and faster than Saeko’s distracted mind could react, Sena grabbed the ends of the cloth tightly, put the cloth itself around the back of Saeko’s neck and pulled her right out of her chair.  
  
 _Aisaretai n da dakishimetehoshii (I want to be loved, I want to be held close)_  
 _Natsukashii sono koe boku no namae yondekure (The voice I long for, please call my name)_  
  
The half-moaned song rang inside her ear when she suddenly had Sena right at her body pressing against hers and making her almost trip. She was just about to react when the woman pushed her back once more back inside an empty seat, Shimon’s after he jumped up in shock, and placed herself right on her lap with spread legs.   
  
_Narifuri kamawazu wamekitsuzukeru (Without caring about appearance I continue to shout)_  
 _Nakitsukarete nemuru soshite daremo inaku naru (Crying and exhausted, I go to sleep then no one will be there)_  
  
She felt the breathing against her lips as Sena leaned down close to her, staring right into her eyes. The fingers, still holding the cloth, ran down her upper body, pressing the tip of the cloth under her belt and softly moaning against her lips before getting up, turning on her heel and making her way back to the stage.  
  
 _Anata wa dare, nee dare na no (Who are you, hey who are you?)_  
 _Watashi wa dare, nee dare na no (Who am I, hey who do you think?)_  
  
When she reached the edge, a few men jumped up from their seats. Sena took one of the chairs, pushed it against the stage with a smooth motion and used it as stairs to get back up the stage, back where she started. The music faded when she got into pose one last time, the stage became dark once more. Saeko could only stare while the rest of the room burst out in applause.


	10. I hope you like Italian food

After she bathed in her success, Asako slowly made her way back backstage, still a wide grin on her face. The other five Princesses and the girls followed her, came up to her and congratulated. Mirio and Nene also came over to her with Mirio shaking in excitement.  
“I never knew you can sing so well”, the younger woman said nervously while almost jumping on her spot. She was really cute. Asako continued to pull the pin out of her hair as well as some of the feathers. Her hair fell over her shoulder, tickling slightly.  
“You never asked”, she answered. Just as Nene inhaled to talk to her as well, the door flew open with a bang and Shio stormed in as if God himself was right behind her. Asako ignored the blonde, loosened the sheet on her hip and put it over her arm.  
“Who do you even think you are?!”, the blonde screamed. “You can't just steal my show! My place! You have no right to do so!”  
Unimpressed the smaller woman turned to the so called Queen, saw that Beni grabbed her arm to hold her back. She raised an eyebrow and put on a charming smile.  
“Gaichi asked me to take your place after you didn't show up. So I didn't steal it from you, I saved it. Don't play the angry woman. You'll just get wrinkles.”  
Well she could say that she had planned this ahead for a while. She looked over to Beni who pulled back the raging woman before she turned on her heel to walk across the room, took the fluffy, white bathrobe and put it on. There was no need for her to show herself behind the stage. Beni proved to be a trustworthy companion. An important one as well. Asako quickly changed her blackmailing she used on Beni earlier for letting Shio slip past him twice into treating her guard as a partner. I saved her the money and the risk and Beni had his own advantages. He got quite a lot of money out of her for working together instead of against each other and he did everything according to plan. In his duty as guard, it had been easy bringing Shio up to the third floor just before the show. Of course this was the place where the Guards and Gaichi would search last for her and soon the Star of Senka needed a new main attraction. Asako gladly volunteered and by the way those filthy beings called men looked at her, she was successful. She couldn't tell how Gaichi would react. She broke the rules after all.  
She still heard Shio screaming behind her, ignored her knowing that Beni wouldn't let go of her unless someone broke off his arms. Her Guard couldn't afford letting Shio slip through his fingers a third time after what the blonde did to her. Osa was still mad about that. Another slam of the door however made her turn around and the women in the room became quiet. There was just one person to slam a door like that to get attention: Gaichi. Another man right beside him. Maybe another Guard. It wasn't unusual since the Guard rarely left the office for more than two meters without protection even if the Sky Stage was 'neutral'. A few seconds no one even dared to breathe, that was until the man beside Gaichi walked past him, clapping his hands. He was about Gaichi's size, curly hair, a very thin, sharp face and, as everyone else around here, in a suit.  
“I never thought I would say this one day, but the show was fantastic. I'm impressed.” He came over to her, smiled and held his hand in front of her. His voice was way deeper than Gaichi's. “We don't know each other yet. I'm Tom. I'm something like Gaichi's boss.”  
A bit confused Asako blinked, yet shook the man's hand and felt the strong grip. She wasn't used to praise anymore since the women were only seen as objects in here, yet the show seemed to be even more impressive than she thought it out to be. It had to be if the Lead personally came over to her to congratulate her. She put on a sweet smile. Tom seemed to be a little different than the grumpy Gaichi.  
“Thanks. I always thought Gaichi was the big boss around here”, she said, noticed the other women hold in their breath once more. It was rather unusual to question Gaichi's authority.  
“He is.” Tom threw a glance over his shoulder. “We complete each other.”  
“More like I do all the work and you put your feet on the desk.”  
Gaichi grinned widely.  
“I wouldn't put it like that.” The Lead turned back to her and the dark haired woman smiled once again. “Whatever. We talked to one another and we both think that you should get a new room. The first floor isn't a good spot for a little gem like you are.”

 

Still halfway in Beni's arms, Shio could only watch as one of her worst nightmares unfolded in front of her. She still hoped that she was wrong, yet when she saw how confused Sena looked at their Lead, the blonde felt how she got sick of the view. Then again Sena hat that wrong, sweet, poisonous look in her eyes that made so many people all for her already. That woman was a beast, a wolf inside a sheep's skin, a dragon that hid inside a cuddly pet. The dark haired woman crossed her fingers in front of her body, tilted her head and looked at Tom with her gigantic eyes. The Princesses around them looked curiously over and also a few of the lower ranked girls watched the scene unfold.   
“A new room? But I like mine. It's not that bad”, she said with an innocence in her voice that made Shio almost throw up. “Osa often comes visit me and I even have my own bathroom.”  
Tom laughed slightly.  
“You will be fine on the second floor. You will have a bigger bathroom and you can relax more easily after a show. There are hardly any costumers coming through to the end of the hall...”  
Shio gasped for air, tried to get rid of the Guard's trip. It felt as if he would break her arm or one of her rips any second.  
“That's my room!”, she cried out. Tom turned to her while the smile faded from his face. Behind his back, she noticed the arrogant look inside Sena's eyes. She was enjoying seeing Shio struggling for sure, even if she hid it beside an innocent face.  
“That's the price for being lazy, Shio. You hardly work out anymore and your shows become flat. You'll move back to the first floor.”  
“But... but...”  
“The people don't want to anymore. You're old news”, Gaichi said and waved over Yurika. “Bring her back to her room so she can clean up there.”

 

Asako watched as Shio was pulled away by Yurika and could hardly hold back a satisfied smile. However as Tom turned back to her once again, she put back on her innocent face and earned another smile by Tom.

“I will let your stuff getting carried over to your new room.”  
Asako giggled softly and the Lead raised an eyebrow on her.  
“Well send a few people if they don't want to run up and down the stairs a few times.”  
“Why is that?”  
“Haruno is really generous.”  
A few seconds there was only an embarrassing silence before Tom burst out into loud laughter.  
“Charming. She has humor. I like you, girl. Keep it up. You will be a wonderful Queen.”  
Asako smiled softly, looked after Tom as he walked away with Gaichi and finally let the room. She looked over to Beni and exchanged a small smile. With Asako as new Queen, Beni's rank was higher as well, meaning more influence, more free time and more money. Everything her Guard requested from her. She looked over to the door and back to Beni. She knew he would catch her drift.  
“Well... I will wait in front of the door. Get ready and come out.”  
Just as Beni left the room, the girls came over to her, almost bursting with excitement. One of the Princesses walked over to her as well and smiled softly.  
“Congratulations. If I can even congratulate you for that”, the young woman said.  
“I don't know yet. But what can I do?” She laughed slightly and crossed her hands in front of her body. “We weren't introduced to one another yet I think.”  
The young woman bowed slightly.  
“Takeshiro Kei. Please... call me Kashige.”  
“Pleased to meet you. Sena Jun. You're one of the princesses I suppose?”  
“Yukigumi.”  
“So your friends over there are the other princesses?”  
“Of course. Why would we run around with those embarrassing feathers otherwise?”  
Asako laughed and pulled close her bathrobe.  
“I guess you wouldn't otherwise. I hope we can work together then.”  
Kashige bowed slightly, waved over as Asako walked past her to the door where Beni already waited to bring her to her room. All that was left was waiting.

 

Saeko entered the Tsukigumi-Villa together with her brother while pulling down her hat and threw it on the side. That girl just refused to leave her mind. Who did she think she was? No one ever dared to get close to her, not that close, if she wasn't comfortable with them. The Tsukigumi-Star already noticed, that the Bunny picked out the Stars of each Clan, yet that didn't matter for her. She had been so close to have a taste of those sweet lips that had been so close to hers.  
“I must say, that girl has talent”, Wataru said, took of the choker around her neck and placed it inside his bag, throwing it over his shoulders. “Maybe I will rent her one day.”  
“If it's sex you want, then you're unlucky. Gaichi doesn't sell sex with her”, Saeko said and grinned over to her brother.  
“How do you know? You never rent anyone.”

“I heard a few guys talk about it during another show.” The Tsukigumi-Star just grinned over her brother's disappointed face before turning to Zunko, who still had Shimon at his heels. “Go to daddy and report to him. And give this boy proper training. I think he might be useful one day. I need to get out of this clothes.”  
Wataru grinned.  
“Wait, brother. I'll come with you.”  
Saeko let the Guards go and wandered through the villa with her brother right beside her. They walked down the stairs, through two locked doors just after a corridor until they reached the sanctuary of the house. This part of the house was for family only and only available for Saeko, her brother and their father. It was an apartment just below the house including bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, a kitchen, rooms to work in and a large area for freetime activity, including a sauna. The whole place was locked tight, bombproof, locked by thick walls of metal, different passwords and scanners for eyes and fingers. It was all necessary since Wataru just loved to walk around in a short bathrobe or completely naked even. This, and if their father decided to put his little 'girls' inside some pretty dresses again. Wataru loved this gifts, wore them in his free time, yet Saeko's dresses usually rotted inside her wardrobe. They were perfect men, but for her father still little girls.

Sighing softly Saeko pulled down her jacket, put it in the wardrobe just beside the door and pulled the shirt from her trousers to reach under it and take off the binder while walking through the rather dark corridor. She inhaled as the pressure was released from her upper body.   
“I still don't know why you wear these things every day until you go to sleep”, Wataru said while pulling the needle out of his hair and took off the fake hairpiece. The older Star had his whole wardrobe full of these things in order to change color and length.  
“You should wear it more often”, she said in return. “If you would, there would be no need to make up that hermaphrodite-story about you. Daddy is still mad about that.”  
Saeko didn't even try to be nice or to deepen her voice. As soon as they stepped into this 'apartment', no one payed attention to it anymore. Wataru himself giggled like a little girl while she ruffled through her hair.  
“They got used to it. He likes me wearing his gifts out in the public.”  
“No he doesn't. You shouldn't present them to just anyone. They are special after all.”  
She sighed and walked into the living room, let herself fall into her couch. Wataru followed her, but placed himself on his spot on a separate couch. Neither her nor their father knew why her brother was so obsessed with this bright blue couch. It was so much different from everything else in here.  
“Says the one who lets daddy's gifts rot in his wardrobe. Just be lucky we don't share the same size or I would snatch them from you.”  
“It's not my fault that daddy presents to me are more pretty than yours.”  
“They are more expensive, but they are not prettier. He is still sad that you don't wear them.”  
“He know I can't.” Saeko crossed her legs and leaned her head on her hand while looking over to a few pictures on the wall. Most of them showed her mother, yet none of Wataru's mother were found there. The Tsukigumi-brothers were only half-siblings, but they grew up together and it was as if they never had different mothers. They were connected as brothers, but even deeper as sisters.  
  
Asako couldn't stop her jaw from dropping when she entered her new room. It felt like the day she entered Osa's house for the first time. She expected something big just... not this big. She already became nervous when she walked past Gaichi's offices, up the stairs to the second floor. It wasn't the hallway itself, more the Guards and Currents all around the place as if they were hoarding gold. The carpet in the hallway seemed really expensive, it was brighter up here than on the first floor and there were only very few doors. They headed for the end of the hallway, past another staircase and into the door at the far end. Beni let her enter first and the new Queen took her time to look around before putting some of her stuff on the majestic bed in the middle of the room. Everything was held in black and white with only some colorful accents. The carpet, the sheets, a few pictures. It seemed rather nice and not like a strip club. It was obvious that some of the things were missing. Surely Shio's stuff. Talking about her, the former Queen came out of what appeared to be the bathroom, still looked somewhere between angry and hurt. She looked like she had cried. When she saw Asako, she gridded her teeth.   
“Are you happy now?”, she growled. Asako had to hold back a smile. “Your little revenge worked. Come on. Rub it in. That's why you're here, aren't you? See if I care.”  
“Shio, please. We're not kids anymore.”  
“What the fuck do you want from me?!”  
“You not screaming at me would be nice for a change.” She looked over to Beni who was already by her side again, softly put her hand on his arm to hold him back. “It's okay, Beni. I will handle this.”  
Shio, surprised as she was, watched as Beni walked back a few steps and crossed his arms.  
“...What's going on here?”, the blonde asked and looked back and forth between them. It surely looked like Asako was ordering Beni around, which was not quite wrong. Actually she was pretty right, but it was not like she was admitting that.  
“Please. Sit down. I think we need to talk.”  
Almost in slow motion, Shio sat down at the table, put the little bag on the floor. Asako sat across from her, nodded over to Beni. He nodded.  
“You got 10 minutes. Teru surely won't wait for long”, he said before turning his back and leaving the room, locking the door behind him.   
“I'm sorry that you need to go back to the first floor.”  
“You're not. Don't say sorry if you don't mean it.”  
“It is in my honest interest. I know the trick was quite dirty, but there was no other possibility than that. You continued to work against me and that didn't fit.”  
The former Queen raised her eyebrow and stared at Asako for a second as if she wanted to look into her soul. The dark haired woman however knew that she made it impossible for the people around her to see behind her schemes. She hid it behind her smile way too well.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I suggest we should stop work against one another. No matter how I look at it, you have the most experience in Sky Stage, the most influence. The girls look up to you and you know how to handle the people around here. With my help, you can come back up here. Together, we could do so much more than to just look hot on stage.”  
Shio stared at her hands in the table, leaned forward and titled her head afterward while looking into her eyes again. For a second Asako almost tasted how her thoughts went from one point to another.  
“I don't care for my freedom if that is what you are pointing at, Sena. If you want my support, then you have to offer me way more for that.”  
Asako blinked.  
“And that would be? There must be something you want.”  
The blonde laughed and leaned back, crossed her legs.  
“There actually is something... rather someone I want.”  
“Who would that be?”  
Shio's smile widened.  
“Find it out yourself. Maybe I'll tell you at one point.” The got up from her place. “For now, I'll let you have your little success. If you manage to get me up here again without me helping you out, then we talk about business.”  
Asako smiled back and threw back one of her strands of hair.   
“Child's play for me.”

 

Saeko was still not so sure why she started reading this magazine, started flipping through the pages. It was already strange because all Saeko usually read were books, men magazines, bills and the local paper. Those little glossies were usually Wataru's thing. Yet ever since she found that one page, the idea was already burned into her head. “You think that would fit me?” Well it was worth a try after all. “Hello?” Yet her reputation would be on the line. “Are you even listening to me?” Well actually that was nothing new. Yet no one dared to question her. Her skills were almost perfect and she would just shoot everyone who dared to say otherwise. But she had to put quite a lot of money into it if she wanted to pull it off...  
“Saeko! Talking to you! Listen up already!”  
The Tsukigumi-heir jumped up, grabbed the pistol on her belt and pointed it on the person who just snatched her magazine, however relaxed when she saw Wataru standing in front of her.  
“Fuck! Stop scaring me like that!”  
“I could have shot you at least five times now. What was so interesting that it distracts you this much? Not to mention... these are mine.”  
Blushing slightly, she grabbed the magazine from Wataru and threw it on the side.  
“None of your business. What do you want already? I thought you wanted to take a nap.”  
Grinning Wataru pulled the fabric in his hand and held it in front of his body. Saeko almost forgot to breathe.  
“I think that would fit me rather well. Your opinion on this? If I widen it on the shoulders...”  
“That's mother's dress.”  
“And?”  
“Put it back! You know that you're not allowed to search through her stuff!”  
“Oh come on. She's dead anyway.”  
“We're still talking about my mother!”  
Sighing and with rolling eyes, Wataru threw the dress into Saeko's arms and quickly she pulled it up before it touched the ground. It had been her mother's favorite dress. A pitch black dress which was rather wide in the front and was bound in the back of the neck. A small choker supported the straps and the back was bare down to the hips. The whole dress was covered with valuable little diamonds.

“Don't wet your panties. It's just a dress. It's not that she would storm in here and scream at me.”  
Carefully Saeko folded the dress.  
“Oh she would. You just have no respect at all. No wonder daddy made me heir and not you.”  
She knew she hit a weak spot there. No matter how uninterested Wataru seemed with Tsukigumi's business, no matter how deep their connection was, her brother was still angry that it was the younger sibling to earn the title of heir.  
“Don't be so sure about that”, Wataru growled. “Daddy just needs a reason to make me heir.”  
Saeko rolled her eyes.  
“Save your breath. You said that years ago and still you just pick up some sluts from the streets than running the family-business. Or even pretend to care for it.”  
Wataru became red of anger, turned on his heel and leaving the living-room. She heard the door to her brother's room being slammed shut. He would be fine as soon as he came down. Even though he deserved that. Saeko slowly went into her father's room, usually forbidden for everyone, and put the dress back into the opened cabinet, looking through it to make sure no other dresses were missing. She smiled softly before locking the door with the key that was hidden under the bed. Then she walked over to the entrance area of the 'apartment', picked up her jacket. No one would notice her being gone if she was quick enough. Her mind about her plan was made up.

 

The new Queen quickly became comfortable in her new room, yet she avoided resting on her laurels. Gaichi pushed her even harder than before, all behind Osa's back of course, and her feet hurt even more because of the highheels she had to wear almost all day long. She just hoped they wouldn't start bleeding at one point. The Senka-Star made her practice all day if she was not with someone who rented her, however let her train in a small hall with a mirror wall and a pole. It was on the second floor, right beside the Princesses' rooms. The windows were covered in bars and there was always a Guard in front of the door. All the dancing and the singing wore her down and she felt exhausted. Osa didn't pick her up for a few days now and Romu even told her, that he wouldn't come anytime soon. Something about something outside of Japan. She didn't really listen to that. If she could only sleep for a night properly or at least get a rest from everything, she would already be fine. At night, she had to be on stage and she practiced all day. Asako usually took the small breaks between to nap and to at least get some sleep. At least Gaichi was still not allowed to sell sex with her, even if usually so proud Senka-Star made a really angry face if he had to turn down another offer as if you refused to give a woman chocolate during her period. Asako was fine with it. She managed to defend her virginity from everyone on the street and she wouldn't stop fighting for it now. She wanted to give her first time to someone she really loved, even if she was old-fashioned about that.  
Still in a split, she sat on the floor in the training-hall to stretch her legs a little. She just finished practice for a song and needed a rest if she didn't want to go croaky. All she did was being on stage, just shake her butt a little instead of dancing properly, train and then rot in her room. Not to mention she had to pull out the money out of these moneybags in between. This all was easy to do with her clothes on, if you could call that clothes that is. Her dresses, corsets, skirts and shirts were short and her underwear almost nonexistent. Beni told her that she only should show the most necessary. Costumers became greedy if showed something they couldn't buy.  
“Hey Asako.” Beni's voice ripped her thoughts and the Queen looked up to the slightly surprised Guard. “I never knew you could do that.”  
“I did ballet when I was younger”, she answered and easily got up. “What is it?”  
Beni grinned widely and crossed his arms.  
“You get into your room now. There is a package for you. Get it, put it on and make yourself pretty. Then you go visit the third floor.”  
Asako rolled her eyes and dusted down her short pants. Even while training she had to wear as less as possible. It was annoying. A visitor around this hour was usually just an old slimebag who pretended to work and let himself get spoiled instead.  
“I swear if he tries touching me again, I will kick him where it hurts most.”  
“I don't think you want to do it with this one.”  
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't.”  
“Because you really want to be nice to this one. I think you want him to rent you more often. Be nice to him and he will be nice to you. Oh and he makes generous gifts.” Asako blinked slightly and tilted her head. She still had no reason to treat him any different. “Oh and one more thing...” Beni lowered his voice as he got over to her, whispered the rest. “Don't tell anybody about this. No one knows about this one and no one is supposed to. This is all behind Gaichi's back, so no word to him or to Haruno if you value your life.”  
“Why?”  
“You will find out as soon as you see him. But none of the money we make here will slip into Gaichi's pocket. This is all strictly between the persons involved. If someone found out, he would never ever trust us again.”  
Asako nodded slightly and followed her Guard outside. Yurika already stood there with Kashi right behind him. They exchanged the girls and Beni took Asako to her room. She looked over and saw Yurika sit down on a chair in front of the room. So that was how it worked. With Yurika, Gaichi's right hand, in front of the room, no one would suspect that it was the wrong girl inside the training-hall while it was him doing some paperwork. With the note that she had five minutes to change, Asako went inside her room and walked over to the package on the chair. She first got out of her clothes before she put the bounded package on the bed instead. She actually really craved for a shower, but that had to wait. She opened it with knitted eyebrows and pulled out the fabric. It was... a dress? A long, white dress with thin straps while a very thin piece of fabric was wrapped around the waist, went over the straps and fell over the shoulders. It was pure white and with her eyes wide Asako put it aside and the moment she took a second look inside the package, she almost felt like crying, took out the shoes. They were just as white as the dress, one size too large but most important: they didn't have heels. They were flat. There was another small piece of accessory in the package: a silver hairpin which formed a small butterfly. Fascinated she turned the pin in her hand. They were so much more beautiful than what Osa usually got her. She didn't even have to pretend how happy she was about these gifts this time. Quickly she changed into them, almost made a little jump when she finally was inside the shoes and put the pin into her hair after she pulled them up a little. She took a few moments to let her hands run over the fabric, felt how soft it was and looked into a mirror to watch the butterfly sparkle in her hair. She almost forgot to put on her make-up, but when she did she felt... pretty. Just pretty. Asako turned and let the dress fly around her legs, smiled happily. She somehow felt like a princess. But no matter how happy she was about these things, she forced herself to keep her cool when Beni picked her up and brought her to the third floor.   
She felt quite nervous when Beni locked the door behind her and she was alone with the person, who stood in front of the window. She knew that suit and she would recognize it anywhere. That was one of the Tsukigumi-brothers. The smaller one of them. However before she got the chance to get closer, she stopped and listened more carefully. The man had one hand inside his pocket, held a white hat in the other. Was he humming? Softly, silently, but he was humming. Asako raised one eyebrow, decided to make notice of herself and coughed silently. The Tsukigumi-Star turned around.  
  
Saeko almost forgot time and didn't really notice anyone enter the room. Usual a fatal mistake that she shouldn't make, but for the moment she felt so safe that she allowed herself to fall into her own little world. She tended to do that sometimes. However when she turned around in surprise, she almost forgot take a breath. It was way better than what she imagined. Sena was beautiful, even more beautiful than before. The long dress suited her better than what she was usually forced into.  
“Good day”, Saeko said and smiled softly. “I hope I didn't interrupt you doing anything important with my unannounced visit?”  
She walked over to the table, placed her hat on the dark wood without really letting her eyes leaving the beauty.  
“No... Not really.”  
Saeko saw how confused the young Queen seemed to be and she could understand it. Saeko was known for not renting any girls at all, yet she did. Just all behind Gaichi's back. That way, she could get the girls some rest from the inhuman treatment they had to experience without giving them any negative publicity by Gaichi. Her visits didn't influence the score the Senka-Star had around here and still she could let the girls sleep in a proper bed for a few hours while the Tsukigumi-Star did some of her paperwork. Behind Gaichi's and Tom's back, she paid a few Guards, Yurika and Beni most of all, to bring some of the girls on the third floor. Of course it was all in secret and the Guards pretended that there was nothing happening at all. For them, she was just another customer, just with a little more profit.   
“I think we weren't introduced to one another properly”, Saeko said while putting her hand on her collarbone, right beside a silver necklace. “Ayaki Nao. Ts-...”  
“Tsukigumi. Star and heir. I know”, the young woman interrupted her coldly before putting on a small smile and looking on the floor. “I-I'm sorry. I just... they said that you never visit someone ever. Or even renting.”  
“Not that anyone knows about it. I don't like my actions being made public. That's part of my job.” Saeko smiled again and tilted her head, waited until the other woman looked into her eyes again. “Do I get your name?”  
“I think you know that already.”  
“I would like to hear that from your mouth.”  
Still unsure what to do, the woman in the white dress pulled back some of her hair and Saeko's eyes hit the Hanagumi-trademark. The earring. She surely did that on purpose.  
“Sena Jun.”  
“That's the name Haruno gave to you, isn't it?”  
The girl grinned.  
“Even if it is, I like it.” Her eyes said differently. “But enough from that. Why do I get the honor to meet you in private?” She looked down her dress and pushed the shoes from under her fabric, looked at them intensely. “Not to mention the great gift.”  
“Don't mention the dress. You always look very unhappy in those highheels and those short clothes. I thought a change would relax you a bit. I hope you like it.”  
  
Asako looked up in surprised. Unhappy? She heard differently. The people were usually satisfied when she was on stage, showed off her body and smile while she felt like a fish on a string. But that was usually what those moneybags wanted. Asako bit her teeth harder, forced on another smile. She just hoped that the man in front of her was none of those who were able to look behind people's masks.   
“No reason to look angry like that”, Ayaki said and laughed. “I'm not here to hurt you. Au contraire.”  
The smile fell off of her lips and couldn't stop herself from looking rather confused. That man was strange.  
“And what do you want?”  
“Not what you surely think right now. My reputation might be bad and people talk shit about me, but I'm not that bad. I have something like a heart. Unlike a lot of people I know.” The man rolled his eyes. “But it's not necessary to act in front of me. I know people. I know when you pretend something, so it's no use to try.” He waved over to the couch. “I just want you to relax.”  
Asako took a step back and gulped. She had to admit she was afraid.  
“And what do you want? Nothing happens here without any exchange.”  
“A pure conscience. Or at least a better one.” The Star looked slightly sad while saying that out loud. “In my job, I always have blood on my hands. But it hurts my feelings to see promising young ladies like you being forced into a scheme they don't want to be in. All I can do is to give you some hours to relax and to escape from that scheme.”  
Asako still wasn't convinced. Who did he even think he was? No matter how high his rank was, she didn't buy that holy-savior-crap.   
“Even if, why me? Why not the girls from the first floor, who are sold and killed every day? Who have to wind themselves under those greasy bodies and have to say 'Thank you' every time?”  
The man sighed.  
“Maybe... there is a tiny hint of egoism.” He looked up and fixed her with his dark eyes. “You are beautiful. You know that. And... and I guess you impressed me. This was the only opportunity I could think of to talk to you without Haruno being around you all the time.” He giggled slightly when he noticed Asako's confused face. “I know what you're thinking. 'Impressed? By me?'” He leaned forward a little. “To be honest: ever since I come here, I never saw someone push off the Queen in such fashion. Especially Shio. She usually gets any rivals killed before they have the chance to get any score. And to be honest, she deserved it. She became a spoiled prude lately.”  
Asako could only laugh silently and looked down. Even though it scared her that the man looked behind her acting, he had humor. Maybe it wasn't wrong to give him a chance. He didn't seem so evil after all.  
“Well thank you for the compliment. And? Any plans? You did rent me after all.”  
Ayaki just grinned widely, leaned down behind the table and pulled forth a small plastic-bag which he put on said table. Fast food.  
“I hope you like Italian food.”


	11. Back to work

Sighing the Star pushed her phone harder against her ear, sighed softly for herself and let her hand run through her hair.  
“Yes boss…. I know… But the money… we…” The phone gained some space between it and her air as her Lead started screaming at her and became loud. And they called her stressed out and easy to agro. “Fine… fine okay. I’ll go back tomorrow evening…”  
The phone on the other end was thrown on its proper place so hardly that she had to hold the phone away once more. Sometimes she hated her Lead made it sound so easy, yet it was not. They had way less people than years ago, the police was sitting in their backs and they didn’t have the money to pay the cops for their silence which was important thinking what Hoshigumi was famous for. Touko reached for her pocket, pulled out a pack of gum and took out one of the rainbow-colored stripes, put it inside her mouth before kicking the wheel of the car. She was the best thief in all of japan, respected and feared as a man and still the money was only enough for such a piece of shit of a car. The things on her list to grab was worth more than a skyscraper full of single-men made in a year yet when Hoshigumi became so small by giving some of the most promising members to other clans, times became harder. Most of the current members barely made it through one B&E. And still their Lead demanded a very expensive choker-necklace but not to sell it, but for personal use. Aran Kei, codename Touko, was still young and she was forced into this position of Star against her will. She wasn’t even of the main part of the family. Her grandfather once had an affair and the result had been her father.  
“Hey. No reason to hurt my baby just because you have a bad day”, her driver growled as he exited the car.  
“Shut your bloody mouth. You know how bloody stressed I am. I really don’t want to go in there again.”  
“Again? Into that shitty museum?”  
Touko growled, entered the car and hit the plastic in front of her just as her Guard entered the driver’s seat.   
“Yes. I don’t even know if we can still enter that freaking thing a second time.” She looked over to her Guard, leaned back and crossed her legs. “Can we? And don’t lie to me. Nothing can shock me today, Tomomin.”  
Tomomin, full name Yumeno Seika, just sighed and shrugged.  
“No clue. I heard Tsukigumi gave away Ahi for a while for this and got a shitload of money for it. Ask Chie. If anyone can get in, it’s him.”  
Chie was Hoshigumi’s best hacker, even if he wasn’t really there with his mind. Yuzuki Reon was his name, however no one called him like this. He and Ahi were enemies for a few years now which made him perfect for this job.  
“Then we go back to headquarters.”  
“First I need my coffee.”  
Touko just laughed.  
“You and your strange need for coffee.”  
  
Very slowly, steadily, the Yukigumi-Star made her way through the small bar, ignored everything left and right, the drunken men, the evenly drunken Currents, the dealers in the corners and targeted the door that said ‘staff only’. It wasn’t her bar, but the little shithead owning it tried to do her a favor and let Yukigumi use the bar as one of many bases. Well until he let some information through to the police. Little piece of shit. The clans hated one another but that didn’t mean they couldn’t work together to protect the whole. Hoshigumi informed her that not all deals went as smoothly as she wanted to and so she just shot the former owner in the face. Now one of her Currents owned the bar. Behind a door, a very familiar face welcomed her.  
“What do we have today, gentlemen?”  
“The usual”, the Current ate one more cupcake in whole. “Seems to be good stuff.”  
Mizu came closer, opened the packet and raised one eyebrow.  
“… That’s everything?” Masao came closer to her, threw a gaze over the Star’s shoulder right into the half empty cardboard box. “You’re joking.”  
“I wish I was, Eden.” Another satisfied slurp. “We have a few more of these things. But a few of them are half empty. I don’t know what happened.” The Star already grabbed her gun and pressed it against the Current’s forehead. “WOH! Wo-oh. Slow and steady, Eden. No reason to freak out. I already go the guy. He’s waiting for you next door.”  
“I really hope he sings, Kimu, or I stuff your cupcakes up your ass until you suffocate on them.”  
She let Kimu behind, Masao still by his side. The two of them started sorting the boxes and started giving orders to the other Currents in the room. Otozuki Kei, or Kimu, was incredibly greedy for everything that was sweet, yet slim as a model and talented. Mizu still had one problem with him: he was rude as hell.   
In the room right next to the other, the thief already waited for her, chained and most likely unconscious. Mizu rolled her eyes, put her weapon back under her jacket and approached the guy. He was disgusting, smelly and the holes in his jeans revealed the even more disgusting skin.   
“Hey. Wake up, fuckhead”, she said in deep, angry voice, yet no answer. She slapped him across the face and he started moving. “Wake up I said!”  
“W-What…”  
“Nice of you to join in the conversation.”  
He looked up and seemed confused.  
“Who the hell are you, boy?”  
Mizu knew that reaction. There weren’t a lot of people to know her face, less to survive and even less knowing who she really was. She simply smiled.  
“None of your business. Tell me where you put the rest of the load.”  
“As if I’m going to fucking tell you!” He pulled on his chains. “Once I’m free, I’m going to break your pretty little face!”  
Sighing, she pulled out her gun once again, pressed the barrel against the guy’s forehead.  
“You can lick my ass, asshole. So? Where is my stuff?” Suddenly the man became incredibly quiet. A little too much for her taste and pulled on his chains once again. She pulled the trigger just a little. “No answer? We can do this the easy or the hard way. I will find out where you put it, but without you it will take longer and I hate waiting.”  
The man was clearly shaking, yet Mizu became impatient quickly. Patience was not something she was known for, at least as soon as it came to work. Of course she could tolerate a lot of things, but stealing from her was not one of them. Not at all. She pointed the barrel on the guy’s leg and pulled the trigger. The bang almost hurt being thrown back by the walls, however she just scratched her ear for a few seconds, ignored the pained whimper.  
“Okay once more. My stuff. Where is it?”  
The little fuck of a man just cried on his spot.  
“The… the station.”  
“Where?”  
“Around the corner. There… there are lockers. The key is in my pocket…”  
“You’re really not one of the creative kind.”  
She raised the pistol, pulled the trigger once again and ended the miserable life of this wannabe dealer. She put the weapon back and left the room, looked over from Masao to Kimu.  
“Pick the key out of his jacket and get the rest from the station around the corner.”  
Kimu just nodded and put something in his mouth she couldn’t identify. Masao close behind her she left the room. She needed some distraction and knew just where to go.  
  
With the cup of coffee in his hand, her Guard was way better mood and took another sip out of the white cup.  
“And why the hell do you have such a good mood? You will go in there with me.”  
“I know, Thylacine, but let me be in my good mood.”  
“You’re not answering my question.”  
“I may see Beni again.”  
Touko raised her eyebrow.  
“He is still alive? With his way of life, I thought he was still shot by Gaichi.”  
“He’s still alive. I would offer you to come along and I get you one girl, but that sadly is out of question.”  
“You’re not the only one on a tight budget.” Touko sighed and crossed her arms. “I wish I could be there once again without going to ruin from it. I really need a girl to nail.”  
“Oh come on. Better times will come.”  
“Hopefully as quickly as possible.”  
They went on driving in silence. The only thing breaking it was Tomomin slurping his drink, stared on the streets until breaking the silence again a few minutes and turns later.  
“Say Touko... What became of that girl? You know… the new queen. What was her name?”  
The Star stared out the front window before blinking and thinking about the question.  
“Sena. Sena something or another. You mean that Hanagumi-bunny.”  
“Yes that one. Is Shio still mad with her?”  
“I guess so. I heard she defends that spot with everything she has and to be honest: she is really hot. I swear she becomes hotter every time I see her.” She saw Tomomin grinning behind the wheel. “Don’t even think about it. The princesses are expensive enough. I don’t even want to know what fucking the bunny costs. Just talking to her for an hour made me bloody broke.”  
“You rented her? Why?”  
“She’s charming. She is very different from Shio.”  
“Sounds like someone threw his eye on her.”  
Touko growled at her Guard.  
“Be careful what you say or I rip out your tongue.”  
“Calm down. No reason to grind your teeth like that. I’ll shut up.”  
  
“And? Where to go now?”, Masao asked as he and Mizu came back to the car and she placed herself in the back of it. Her mood was way below the point of zero and she needed to be distracted. In those moments she really hated being portrayed as a man. If she had been able to reveal herself as a woman, she would have went over to Haruno, ripped down his clothes and let him fuck her all night long. She actually liked that thought, however that surely would make their relationship in work pretty complicated. Plus the Hanagumi-Lead wouldn’t even paying attention to her right now if she showed up naked in the middle of the day, which made her mood even worse. He only had one thing in his mind right now: that Sena girl. The crowned ‘Queen’ of Sky Stage. The little bitch from the street. In the beginning, she even liked that girl. She was shy, sweet, innocent… but now with that gone, she hated that girl with everything she had. With Sena betting with the big guys, her so well laid out plan was completely ruined. She knew Haruno still had the hots for her, that she didn’t let him have sex with her. She couldn’t understand that. Why didn’t Haruno just take what he paid for? He usually always did, no matter what he felt for that little slut. It was embarrassing how Sena treated Haruno like her dog and made him do everything for her. From the oh so proud wolf was nothing left than a little pet that barked and sat by her feet. Time and time again she watched Haruno staring after his little girlfriend, drooling over her when she was on stage and he even rented the front seat for every performance. He hardly ever missed a performance and if he did, the seat was empty. He was there more often than Ayaki, who almost lived in that bar. That man only moved from the Tsukigumi-villa to the bar and back and sometimes when he had work to do. Sometimes she wondered how Ayaki never got broke from it. Then again she never saw him renting a girl. Maybe the story of him being impotent was true. The thought made her smile.  
“Hey Eden. Say something. I can’t stand here forever.”  
“How about we pay Sky Stage a visit? I need something to fuck. And you know what? Pick a girl out. I’ll invite you.”  
“Really?”  
“I’m being generous today. Don’t get used to it.”  
“Then I hope you have enough money with you. I have my eye set on one girl only.”  
Mizu blinked in confusion as her Guard started the car.  
“Who is it?”  
“I only ever take one girl. Think about it.”  
It took her a few moments, but then she looked at Masao in the mirror.  
“The Hanagumi-Princess? That slut? I thought you hated used things.”  
“Don’t call her like that. I heard Sena had her pretty fingers in promoting her. She basically flipped almost all the princesses since she became Queen.”  
“I know. Yumesaki Nene as Soragumi-Princess and Shio as Hoshigumi-Princess. How the hell she ever managed to do that. Shio’s first dances after she was pushed of the throne were terrible.”  
“Whatever.”  
“That girl… Asumi Rio?”  
“Yup. Why?”  
“I hope you know you shouldn’t develop feelings for that girl or else I’m going to blow your head off.”  
In the corner of her eye she saw Masao gulping.  
“Don’t worry, boss”, he said after a short break. “I’ll just amuse myself and go again.”  
“I hope so. Did you pick up the cigarettes as well?”  
“Sure. But since you don’t smoke I guess they are for Haruno?”  
“It doesn’t concern you, but yes.” Mizu leaned back. “He is totally hot for that European-stuff.”  
  
“I have one more question, Touko.”  
The Hoshigumi-Star simply growled as she pulled the string herder with her teeth and tried to somehow sort the things in that bag. It either became more and more or the technical things became bigger and bigger. She had the best, most efficient, lightest equipment available on the black market and still unable to fit it all in one bag. She even broke into different Top-Secret-Organizations just to pick up this stuff and it all made her look like an idiot. Yet when she left behind a piece, so her experience showed, she always needed that specific thing during her work. She could still hear Tomomin slurping his coffee behind her back. She couldn’t even tell how many cups he already had.  
“Even if you make it out alive with the necklace, what’s in it for you? You risk your life for nothing. The boss doesn’t even pay us.”  
Growling Touko dropped the rope she just wanted to pack in on the pile of equipment right beside her, pushed down the one side of the case with all her force, but failed closing the very last gap between the two halves. Bloody hell. She could feel the vein throbbing on her forehead because of anger and efford.  
“We go in…”, she started and pressed the case together once again. “… and just get everything…” One of the locks snapped shut. “… that we can pack in. We can sell that shit everything even if I have to throw myself in front of Gaichi’s feet. He wanted some jewelry for his Princesses anyway.” Just as she almost made the second lock close as well she slipped of the upper half, fell to the side and the case flipped open again. Touko got up, kicked the hard suitcase and cursed loudly. “Fucking little piece of shit! Who the bloody hell thought about bloody making this bloody things so fucking big in the first place??” The sound of the door being opened made her turn around. “WHAT?!”  
“Sorry, Thylacine”, Chie murmured, entered fully with his laptop in his hand. With the clothes he liked to wear, he wasn’t really a beauty to look at. He loved his way too tall shirts, baggypants and bright colored slippers, a way too big pair of glasses on his shirt and unmade hair. He said he just didn’t like wearing a suit like the rest of Hoshigumi liked to do. Yet Touko defended him from all other clans as they had to give away a few members in order to pay their depts. His attitude was forgiven in exchange for his skill. He was one of the best hackers of the underground, together with Ahi, Rika and Mami. Each and every name was some kind of Anagram for something. The story was that Chie, Ahi and Rika were all trained by Mami, however said last hacker went missing a few years ago. No one knew what became of him and why he disappeared in the first place. A lot of people went through hell in their attempt to catch him and not only to get the money Gaichi set as reward for his head. With Mami, someone would be able to simply walk into the white house, murder the president and get out without anyone even noticing.   
“What is it?”, Touko asked and panted slightly in order to come down.  
“I wanted to talk about your breaking into the museum. I was right. Ahi is behind this. The system has his name under it.”  
Chie simply went over to the table, placed his beloved treasure on top of it and opened it.  
“So I was right.”  
“Yes. I know. I’m sorry. I thought we didn’t need to get in again, so I let it happen. But he did do a god job.” Touko walked over to him and looked on the screen. Chie’s finger made its way over the picture way quicker than he talked, yet she already got used to that a while ago. His hands were always faster than his mouth and his brain was even faster. That was why he never talked while typing. “We have lasers, heat sensory, guards everywhere, cameras without a blind spot…”  
“I don’t want to know what is in there, I want to know how to get in and out without getting shot.”  
“Calm down. Geez. I sometimes wonder how you even made it that far.”  
“Get to the point.”  
“Fine. So… if you’re in there, we can’t contact you. You need to get to the main computer.”  
“Which is… where? And why? I’m not interested in what the guard’s porn.”  
“If you want to get out alive you should get in there first.” Touko growled in silent understanding. “I can turn off the cameras for a few minutes from outside, but you have a maximum of ten. You have that much time to go from here… “ He pointed out a way on the screen. “…through there, past the guards to the main computer. As far as I can tell, Ahi surely put some kind of lock over every USB-port…”  
“Give me solutions not problems.”  
“You’re really not patient enough. You have to work on your attitude.” Chie sighed and got up, crossed his arms. “So… I see two choices here. You search for the ports manually or you rip off every cover on every computer you see.”  
“Which is faster?”  
“Ripping. But louder.”  
“That’s my problem.”  
“Fine. I wrote a program that enables me to shut up the system. It will be dark, but you have your equipment for that.”  
“Works for me. And where’s the treasure?”  
Chie rolled his eyes, looked back at Tomomin for a second before he leaned forward again to discuss the further plan.  
  
If somebody asked under which Queen it was easier working under, than her answer would be clear anyway. Maybe she was egoistic, but having Sena as friend had its benefits, even more than she had imagined at first. She was glad keeping such close contact with her. Yet she still wasn’t sure how she managed to do it, but she didn’t mind. Her life on the second floor was way easier ever since she became Hanagumi-Princess. It was easier than on the first floor and way better than in the cellar. The dead rested there and that was not a metaphor. Whatever. Again Mirio found no rest, walked up and down her room. Once more she questioned herself why and how she even got into drugs, why she started it in the first place. She once had such a good life. Parents, friends, family, school… Damn she even was in love once. That was all before her parents suddenly died and she fell inside that pit that made her live on the street. Alone in the world, she went to the next best person who wanted her, who told her it would be better once she rammed the needle up her arm. Once, twice, a third time… it was better for a short time, but then that man wanted to see money for the next shot. Money she didn’t have. As payment, she was sold on the streets to different men, strangers just to pay for her next shot. One day Hanagumi picked her up and she was sold to Sky Stage where she still had to work for her drugs, but at least she didn’t have to sleep out in the cold anymore.   
The only thing she really hated about this club were the clothes. Whenever she got the opportunity, she slipped into the pants she got from Sena and pulled the shirt over her exposed body. She hated the skirts she had to wear, the shoes… everything. Well… some costumers were way nicer to the Princesses. They bought them some nice things like clothes, necklaces, sometimes even flowers.  Mirio still hated to see these men naked.   
She scratched her arm once more, felt her skin rip open a little under her nails and nervously clawed it. The pain distracted her from the tingling that drove her mad. ‘You have to learn to control yourself’, Sena said to her. ‘It’s all a matter of will. If you don’t want to take it anymore, you won’t need to.’  
Easier said than done, especially for Sena who didn’t even touch one drop of alcohol or a cigarette. Normally she always slipped into Nene’s room to make her comfort her, however as Princess she was really busy. Having Nene next door was still strange, but Mirio was sure it was all Sena’s doing.   
“Mirio!” She whirled around and panted nervously as she saw Yurika standing inside the doorframe. “Get ready. You have a visitor.”  
The young woman nodded, but before the Guard was able to close the door again she made a jump for it.  
“Yurika! Yurika wait…” The guard stopped and looked at her. Mirio’s gaze fell on the floor and she stepped from one foot on another. “I… I mean… could I…”  
“No.”  
Mirio looked up, gulped and stood on her spot shaking.  
“But… but…”  
“I said no. Gaichi gave me orders.” He leaned in a bit more. “And between us: even that is way too much for you. Every other girl would drop dead on the spot like this. It won’t kill you to skip a shot.”  
Mirio stared on the door as Yurika closed the door completely. She bit her bottom lip, turned on her heel and went over to her closet, took out the first best thing that lay on top of it. Short pants, a tight shirt… should be enough. She wouldn’t wear it for long anyway. She slipped into the other clothes and into a pair of shoes that were way too small for her size. However she didn’t dare to ask for another. Mirio wasn’t exactly the most confident of all girls inside here.  
She was just about to fix her makeup when she heard a knock at the door, jumped on her spot as the visitor just went in and dropped her pen.  
“No need to panic”, she heard the other laughing and his voice alone made her smile widely. She didn’t like a lot of people, but this was one of them.  
“Masao!”, she squealed loudly and ran over to the young man, threw herself around his neck. He just hugged her shortly before leading her over to the bed. Mirio still felt herself shaking hardly.  
“Well we didn’t see each other for a long time. How are you holding up?”  
“I guess things go fine?”  
Mirio didn’t even know how to express herself. Her voice was shaking and her fingers were trembling. The Yukigumi-Guard watched her closely and smiled awkwardly.  
“They skipped your dose again?”  
“… Yes.”  
“Then you’re a very happy girl.” Mirio tilted her head and watched as Masao reached inside his pocket and put a needle and a little bottle inside her hand. “I hope you appreciate it. Teru really takes some money to let that slip past him.”  
The young woman was somewhere between happiness and confusion. She could hardly control the shaking of her hands.  
“Teru is guarding the entrance?”  
“Punishment for letting Shio slip past him some time ago.”  
Mirio didn’t even ask. She knew Shio and Teru had a… special relationship, but it was his fault if he got caught. Keeping guard at the entrance was the shittiest job one could think of in here, aside from being one of the Servants.   
“And… it’s fine?”  
“Go ahead. You know what I want as payment.”


	12. You need a new Haircut

“Asako! Damn… Asako come on now!”  
The Hanagumi-Star wandered through the lower floor, searching for her pet bunny but she was unable to find her anywhere. Where the hell did she go? She couldn’t have left the house, though she seemed to be friends with a lot of her usually very aggressive dogs and played with them as if they were nothing more as lapdogs, however there was no way she could have gone past the guards patrolling everywhere. Once more she called out for the girl until she finally decided to go upstairs herself. Usually Osa avoided the upper floors, especially the second and third, since her fear of highs was worse than anything else she ever experienced. She liked to stay on the ground of things and avoided travelling by plain as good as possible. Even if she had to, she usually shut down the windows, shut herself inside a private cabin and turned up the music until it was over. Well it could be worse.  
“Ai-chan”, she said harshly as her new maid walked past her. The girl flinched, twirled around and bowed deeply in front of her. “Where is Asako?”  
Without saying anything she pointed over to a door. Asako’s room. Then why didn’t her pet hear her in the first place? Or she had been ignored again. During the last couple of weeks Asako more and more neglected her orders and just pretended to not listen at all. It made the Lead’s blood boil and she found herself growling ever so often, yet she wanted to be her pet’s shining prince and so she didn’t punish her as she would have liked to. Maybe she even wanted to be just a tiny bit more, a friend, a boyfriend even since her desire to touch the younger woman became stronger and stronger the more she was pushed back. There were days where Osa found herself with the desire to just rip down the clothes from this perfectly slim body, to take a bite of her pale skin and to taste her lips. After all, Osa gave her everything and she got nothing in return, so she found it was just her right to claim Asako for herself. But on the other hand there was this thought sitting in her head that she may claim the other’s body for herself, but not her heart and her heart was what she truly desired. She wanted Asako and everything with her, her body, her mind and her spirit in order to hold her heart in her hands until death set them apart.  
Carefully she knocked on the door before entering and saw immediately why the other didn’t hear her. She sat in front of the mirror, brushing her over shoulder length hair and hummed softly to the tune coming from her headphones. A very old model of an CD-player, but it still worked. Osa’s anger also vanished when she looked upon her, how she wore that bright white dress again like a queen. It had been one of Sky Stage’s, or more Gaichis’s presents and that made Osa mad in return, but seeing how much Asako liked it just warmed her heart. Since the Lead had not yet been noticed, she took a quick look over the other’s body. Her muscles had started to build up ever since she was forced to do daily training and her weight was back to normal again, making her even prettier. The Star softly bit her bottom lip while closely examining how the muscles on her beck and her shoulder moved while she continued brushing her hair. When she came closer, Asako turned her face, smiled and took out the earphones.  
“Hello, Haruno. I didn’t hear you come in.”  
“You didn’t hear me screaming for you either”, Osa said coldly and stopped in front of her while the younger one got up from her spot. “What took you so long?”  
“I simply forgot the time. I’m sorry.”  
Asako smiled shyly and Osa shook her head, playfully touched the tip of Asako’s nose before she smiled just the tiniest of smiles.  
“I wonder where your head is, dear. You seem off a lot. Or do you keep a secret from me?”  
The question was way more serious than she made it out to be. Asako did a good job squeezing out some information out of her costumers, however she had the feeling that her pet kept something from her. She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was. The Hanagumi-Lead just hoped that no one noticed how well Asako was able to tell apart valuable information from senseless chit-chat. Asako’s smile faded a bit and she seemed almost sad.  
“I just don’t feel well.” She lowered her gaze. “Gaichi makes me do so much work and working with the other girls isn’t easy. I’m really tired.”  
“Why isn’t it easy?”  
“Gaichi doesn’t treat them very well and they are really unmotivated. No wonder when you think of how he treats them.”  
Osa laughed silently.  
“That’s none of your business, Asako. For them you are just Sena Jun. When you are Asako, you are mine and you don’t need to do any hard work for me. I want you to be mine as much as possible.”  
“I know…”  
Smiling the Lead leaned over to her, pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth and slipped one hand on her side. However instead of returning the favor, Asako did nothing, just stood there like a puppet. Irritated the Lead looked at his priced possession.  
“What is it?”  
“I… nothing. It’s nothing.”  
Sighing Osa pulled her closer, let her lips touch Asako’s ear and sighed softly against it.  
“I don’t believe you”, she whispered and carefully stroke her pet’s back. “But Asako… just a warning: I don’t like it if you keep a secret from me. I’ll just pretend you’re really tired for now, but when I bring you home, I expect that you finally open up your mind for me. I want you and you know that perfectly well.”  
  
Asako watched and sighed when Haruno left the room and bit her bottom lip. This man wasn’t stupid, no matter how dumb he was playing or how blind he sometimes was. However she was glad he didn’t ask any further and she sighed in relieve, turned around and took the earring she only wore when she needed to. So much had changed since she started all of this. The days just flew by or had it been weeks? Months even? She lost every track of time. Cold and warmth didn’t matter since she was almost always inside and she felt how she grieved for some sunshine on her skin and some rain running down her face. Yet she was Queen of Sky Stage, danced and sang, got some money she hid away from Haruno, showed her dancing to the new Princesses and then sat in her room for hours just plotting and sometimes paying a visit to another girl. It was hard keeping it all a secret from everybody and she surely would have failed if it hadn’t been for Beni to keep her back clear and for Shio who ruled over the other girls in her name. For some reason they did get along quite well with one another as soon as their differences were cleared and the unofficial war over. Gaichi still thought they hated one another, but they were able to work with one another.   
Then again, Asako only had eyes for one person who she hid from Shio as well. Ayaki Nao. The Tsukigumi-Star was a strange one indeed but… kind. Flirty sometimes but she didn’t mind that. A touch there, some lovely words here and if she liked it or not, Asako fell for that. She felt comfortable and protected in his arms in a way she didn’t feel with Haruno and as soon as Ayaki let his cold mask fall as he did with her, he was a really emotional, kind hearted person. His eyes told her he was also telling the truth.  
Asako shook her head. She couldn’t let herself think about him for now since she had more important things to do until he returned to her and more importantly: she had to continue hiding him from Hanagumi. She just hoped Haruno’s affection towards her made him even blinder when he already was and also that he continued to keep his hands to himself. She didn’t want sex with him nor any person she didn’t really fell in love with. She took out the heels she had to wear to let Haruno cool down, took out one of his ‘presents’ and slipped out of the dress she got from Ayaki. Sighing she put on the skirt, the top and the heels instead before hurrying down the stairs. She would have loved to take off the heels just until she had to get on stage again or at least wear some trousers. Just as she walked down the stairs, she saw Tomu with Haruno, however no Mattsu in sight. Maybe he was busy with Ai-chan again, yet that also was nothing unusual. She rarely got to see Ai-chan when she was about to go back to Sky Stage.  
She hated this place. It was always the same routine. They went inside, Haruno led her up to the second floor, left her there with Beni and went to see Gaichi, came back to say goodbye and then left. Her mood only lifted when she saw the small yellow tissue stuck in Beni’s jacket. That meant Ayaki was there and then there was a chance he came to see her. She smiled at her Guard as she walked past him inside, pulled on her heels to throw them into a corner and went over to the cabinet in order to pull out a slightly longer skirt to replace the one on her body. In contrast to Haruno, Ayaki was able to look into her eyes rather than stare on her legs and push his hand under her skirt. The thought of having him around again made her rather happy and she casually danced through her room while humming softly.  
  
Actually Saeko never planned to visit her queen again, however the situation just gave it away anyway. Plus she really looked forward to another meeting. Her business with Gaichi were short and she could wait at the bar for the Queen to return. Just a quick drop-by wouldn’t hurt anybody. Every time she visited the lady, she noticed how sweet of a person Sena actually was. It took her some time in order to convince Sena that her intentions were honest but when she did, the Queen also stopped acting in front of her. Saeko was able to see through that anyway, through her mask and makeup. Thinking about it: her last visit had been some time ago, mostly because somebody almost caught them and she didn’t want anybody to even notice she was there. Aside from Beni that was. For some reason Sena trusted him like hardly anyone else. Not that she couldn’t understand. That girl had a spell around her that made it hard to resist her and she already had pulled Saeko inside.   
She pulled down her hat as she walked through the door, found the Senka-Star at his table and grinning widely. Sometimes she wondered if he had nothing else to do aside his work and fucking his Lead all day long. That seemed a little boring to her. There was talk that Senka had a room somewhere in the city where they trained new recruits, but that was just talk. The star never seemed to be there anyway.  
“Good evening, Gaichi”, she said loudly. “Father sends me.”  
The Senka-Star growled softly for himself, leaned back and crossed his legs under the table.  
“Yes I know. I asked him to. I have work for Tsukigumi. Though I expected Wataru instead of you, Ayaki.”  
The Tsukigumi-Star smiled weakly, stayed close to the door and the wall in her back. She had no trust in Senka and it also seemed to be the other way around. If they did, he wouldn’t have put the gun on the table.  
“Wataru is busy. Sadly. So you will have to do with me. What is this work about? After all I can’t work without information.”  
“It’s about an old … let’s call him friend of yours. Komu.”  
“Komu? We have no business with him anymore.” In fact she hated that guy.  
“That’s what people tell. Whatever. Actually it’s more about one of his people. Komu ordered the airport to be searched a few days ago, specifically one of my planes.” Saeko had heard about that. “He took a few of my things and in fact: I don’t like that. There is a very valuable completion of gems and jewelry I really would like back.”  
“You should ask Hoshigumi for that. Tsukigumi is no thief.”  
Gaichi growled again, his face hardened and his lips became nothing more than a thin line.  
“Fine. Have it your way. Find the bastard that took my things and kill him. Komu knows how to hide him well.”  
“If Komu protects him personally, I hope you have enough money to pay.”  
Sighing the Senka-Star pulled out an envelope from one of his drawers and put it on the other side of the table. Saeko came closer when Gaichi pulled back, took the paper and opened it while walking back on her spot. That was… an incredible amount of money, even for their business.  
“That’s the first half. You get the second when the job is done.”  
The Star looked up and raised her eyebrow. There was something more behind all this than just gems, but that was none of her business. She would listen to talk and gossip anyway. If Gaichi, cheapskate Gaichi, was willing to pay this much it obviously was important.  
“Fine”, the Tsukigumi said. “I’ll talk to father about this.”  
Gaichi just nodded and she left the room as quickly as possible without taking her eyes off of Gaichi. She wasn’t quite happy about the turnout of events, however she had people to take care of that. Just as she reached the end of the hallway, she pulled up the collar of her shirt, pulled her hat deeper into her face, yet didn’t leave the hallway to the main hall with the stage and instead turned left right before she ran into Yurika and headed for the stairs. Just before the hallway took another turn, there was another, small staircase that led up to the second and the third floor, only known to Gaichi, Tom and maybe very few others. She quickly reached the second floor, stopped in the shadows even though Beni had already noticed her on the other end of the hallway. Saeko gave him a short wink with her hand before she headed upstairs even more in order to wait on the third floor for her Queen. She waited in front of the door until Beni arrived first and the Tsukigumi-Star was able to hand him a bundle of money before entering the room completely. It was mere seconds later when Sena finally entered the room, smiling and almost ran over to her, let her arms fall around Saeko’s neck and hugged her tightly. For a few moments the Star held the woman against herself before releasing her and looking down on those terrible shoes. Why Haruno made her wear that was just not understandable. She found Sena’s eyes again, carefully put her hand on the others cheek, enjoying the warmth that came from it and smiled even more. She felt so good under her hands, by her side. The girl let her arms rest on her shoulders, stayed close to her and her voice was only a whisper.  
“I thought you let me wait forever.” She was cocky and her smile became a slight grin when she stepped closer again and Saeko felt the others body on hers.  
“I’m sorry. I was really busy.”  
She found herself lost in the eyes of the young girl, caressed the skin on her back through the fabric and sighed softly. Just the thought of holding her again made her happy, yet the fabric felt rough and edgy under her fingertips, so she grinned.  
“What the hell did Haruno make you wear this time? You look like…” Saeko knitted her eyebrows and looked down for a second. “… I would say something between a whale and a squeezed muffin.”  
Sena softly hit her shoulder and laughed.  
“Don’t be so mean! I didn’t really have the time to change. I don’t think Haruno would have liked me wearing your dress when I came back here.” Soon after, she stroke the place she just hit and lowered her voice, her eyes became soft again. “But I missed you.”  
Saeko felt her heart jump. This girl was just lovely and her being was so attracting to her that she couldn’t change the fact that she only had eyes for her when she was around even though it wasn’t allowed for her. She couldn’t let herself fall for a girl, couldn’t let anything develop between them, yet it just happened. Saeko could feel it. But she was unable to give her up just for the sake of rules and tradition. She wanted this girl than anything else, but what remained to here now were just these moments where she could hold her.  
“And? How was your day? Did you do anything out of the ordinary?”  
She could feel Sena kick loose her shoes and she sank in on her spot. Without these heels and with Saeko still wearing hers she was a few centimeters taller than her and she already knew Sena preferred to be on her bare feet instead of having to wear the heels that wouldn’t even fit her. Carefully Saeko pulled back some lost hair.   
“Nothing utterly important. Well… I saw Mattsu finally asking Ai-chan out on a date. Some say he even smiled.”  
Saeko grinned wider.  
“That was about time, don’t you think?”, she asked silently, still looking into the other woman’s eyes. “Even somebody like Mattsu deserves something to be happy with.”  
Sena carefully buried her hand inside her hair, stroke it softly and Saeko felt a rush of excitement running through her vains.  
“And what about you?” The whisper made her shiver. “Do I make you happy?”  
Saeko placed her forehead against that of the other woman in order to look deeper into her eyes. She shouldn’t. All her life people told her to be careful who to open to, to pay attention, but this girl made her drop all her defense. Her whole being made her long for her.  
“Do you really need to ask that?”, she mumbled. “If I could I would spend my life with you.”  
  
Asako felt her heart race. She didn’t expect to draw something out of the Star so soon and so suddenly and so directly with that, but that made her smile even wider. She closed her eyes, leaned her head on the other’s shoulder and pulled herself closer to the other. She wanted this, this something from Ayaki, not sex, but something more deeply with that. Her hands ran down over Ayaki’s jacket, the chest and let them rest there. She still had Ayaki’s hands on her back, felt a soft pull, nothing demanding, but a question. She let herself go, found herself in a small dance without any music with her Star. The low humming against her ear, the hands that hold her so tight made her forget everything around her for just a second. Where she was, who and why so she was able to let herself fall to the silent music and still feel protected. When she opened her eyes again she found the dark lakes that were Ayaki’s. Asako carefully placed her hand on the warm flesh of the cheek pulled the other closer and placed a small kiss on the unbelievably soft lips. It just felt right and the spark that elected from that moment let her place a second and a third one on them until Ayaki held her so tight that she had no other option but to stop dancing and deepen the kiss. She failed to breathe and her legs felt like jelly. She was glad Ayaki held her so tight, embraced her and the feelings that flew through her made her shiver. Only when the two of them felt they were close to suffocating, they separated and stared at each other with a slight smile.  
Until the clicking of a gun made them look over to the door.  
“Take your hands off the girl, Ayaki”, Yurika growled angrily while pointing the barrel of the gun in Ayaki’s direction. Slowly the Tsukigumi-Star took her hands off of her and took a step back. “Sena. Get over here. Now!”  
“Put the gun down, Yurika”, Ayaki said calmly. “It won’t serve a purpose shooting me now.”  
“I don’t even give a fuck. Haruno will kill me if he finds out you slipped past me just to meet with his bunny.” He looked over to her. “Move!”  
Still with shaking legs, yet more with fear than excitement, Asako walked over to Yurika and past the Guard right to Beni’s direction.  
“Yurika take down that damn gun!”, Beni called and pulled Asako behind him. “He never did anything to you! I won’t tell anybody…”  
“Oh didn’t he?”, the guard interrupted and looked over to Beni for a second. Just when Beni started arguing again with the other guard, she noticed a smaller gun under her Guard’s jacket and since no one even seemed to pay attention to her she grabbed it and took a step back.  
“Take it down”, she said with a shaking voice, pointing it more or less over at Beni.  
“Woah… Sena… just… be careful with that!” Beni didn’t even move when he turned around and stared right at the gun. “You don’t even know how to use one of those.”  
“I live with Haruno. He showed me one or two things.”  
A bluff, but everything she had. She only noticed the small mechanism on the side, something for safety if she remembered correctly. Pulling the trigger was something everyone could do. Yet Yurika still didn’t take down his gun and still pointed it over at Ayaki.  
“Do you think it would be that easy, Yurika?”, Ayaki said once more and the Guard’s attention flew back to him. “If she shoots Beni and you shoot me, who do you think Haruno will believe more? And Gaichi will do everything to satisfy Haruno. His business depends on it.”  
“Even if, I don’t fucking care”, the Guard suddenly burst out. “This is personal!”  
  
Saeko raised her eyebrows. She had been sure this worked, but instead she still talked against a wall that pointed a gun at her and she expected to be shot any second if they continued to run down that road. She stayed calm anyways. They were taught not to fear death.  
“And what is that supposed to mean?”, the Tsukigumi-Star asked again and let her hands fall down.  
“I waited so long for this. Just because you bastards decided to side with Yukigumi and Soragumi, Hoshigumi was almost whipped out and people died who had nothing to do with this!”  
Side with other clans? She wondered if he was talking about the Hoshigumi massacre. She knew that that day a lot of Shinkos and Currents had died, people who had nothing to do with the death of the old Yukigumi-Star, however that had been the contract. Every Hoshigumi who happened to be around the place where it had happened had died.   
“If it’s about Hoshigumi, then talk to Mizu about it and leave me alone. I just followed my orders.”  
Yurika screamed out in frustration, his face filled with anger.  
“Orders?! Orders don’t bring my friend back to me! I saw you shooting him!”  
Once again Saeko knitted her eyebrows. A lot of people had died, but herself, Wataru and Wao were set on getting through to the Lead and Star of Hoshigumi. However…  
“So that one guy was your friend?”  
There had been one Shinko getting in their way, running in front of her gun when Saeko was just about to shoot one of Hoshigumi’s highest Guards.  
“Don’t talk like that about him!”  
“Were you two close?”  
“He was like a brother to me! And you shot him!”  
“If he was, then I’m sorry.”  
“That doesn’t bring him back!” Saeko saw something rising up inside Yurika, slowly raised her hands again so he wouldn’t get any wrong ideas. In the corner of her eye she saw movement, most likely Beni or Sena, but she didn’t dare looking over to them. “He was everything to me! And you killed him like he was just some animal! I…”  
The loud bang of a shot ran through the room and Saeko flinched, almost expected her lights to go out, but instead the Guard fell lifelessly to the floor. She immediately looked over to Sena and Beni, saw Beni holding the gun and Sena right behind her, holding herself on her Guard’s arm. Beni was breathing heavily and pointed the gun to the floor. He was completely white in his face. Carefully Saeko came closer to the dead body on the floor. Blood ran out of the wound on his head and quickly turned the carpet red. She gulped. What to do now?  
“You really have some nerve to shoot someone of your own clan, Beni”, she said and walked over to the couch where she fetched a blanket. She knew the third floor was soundproof and also had no cameras. Something that Gaichi loved to do. Usually the room had a Guard right in front of it to secure the girls, but as soon as someone decided to look for Sena or the two Guards, they would search on the third floor first.  
“I hated that guy”, Beni stammered and when Saeko looked over to Sena, she got her idea. Maybe she was able to get her out after all.  
“Beni”, she said coldly. “Get over here. Help me before everything is covered in blood.”  
Saeko took out her gloves from her pocket and put them on before she got over to the corpse, closing his eyes and wrapping the head with the blanket. It stopped the blood from covering everything immediately. Just as Beni walked over to her, she started ripping off the jacket from Yurika’s shoulders.  
“What now?”  
“I’ll take you two with me.”  
“What?!”  
“Don’t scream at me.” She threw aside the jacket and quickly gazed over to Sena. “You don’t deserve to stay here. If someone gets to know about this, you two are most likely dead. So? Will you help me or not?”  
She saw Beni thinking about it for just a second, but started helping her undressing the corpse. Usually that was a no-go for Tsukigumi, but hard times needed unusual actions to be taken. Yet when the shirt came off she noticed something way too familiar. A binder. She opened it with a quick movement and Beni’s mouth fell open.  
“Are that…”  
“Boobs. Yes”, Saeko answered unimpressed. “A girl. Who would have thought?”  
She just shook her head and with Beni’s help, the former Guard was undressed up to her shorts. She collected the pieces before going over to Sena, pushed the clothes into her arms.  
“Get dressed.”  
“B-But… but…”  
“No buts.” Saeko carefully placed a kiss on her lovers lips. “Please. Just pull yourself together. You can let your emotions flow as soon as we’re out of here, okay? We don’t have time now.”  
Finally the girl moved, walked over to the small couch and put the clothes on it, started taking off her own in order to change into Yurika’s. They were too large for her, but it would do for now. Well… not quite. She looked over to Beni.  
“Do you have a knife? Scissors?”  
The Guard started patting down his jacket after he put the gun back under it, pulled out something that looked like a pocket knife, handed it over to her.  
“What do you want with it.”  
“You’ll see.” She turned around and saw Sena trying to figure out how the binder worked, sighed and walked over to her. “One more thing: when we go downstairs, we need a girl to take with us. It has to look like we’re taking out a girl.” Beni nodded and Saeko closed Sena’s binder with one short movement. The girl almost choked, but she just threw her a quick gaze before she grabbed the shirt and started buttoning it up. The Star pulled back Sena’s hair as if to make into a ponytail, held it tight.  
“A-Ayaki? What are you doing?”, the girl asked and stopped somewhere between the second to last and last button.  
“Trust me.”  
Saeko held her hair tight, cut it loose just above her hand and let the cut hair fall on the ruined carpet. If someone was to get up here, they would notice she was gone anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Shocked the girl examined her short hair. It was still longer in the front, but it would do for the moment. Saeko pulled down her hat, walked around her and put it on Sena’s head.  
“Pull it down as much as possible”, she said softly. “We will go down and people will mistake you for Yurika. For now. We just need to make it quick. Don’t look at anybody, don’t ask, just stay beside me and look at my feet. We’ll pick up my stuff and then we’re out of here.” Sena was still shaking, tears in her eyes. She could easily tell that she was scared, but she couldn’t think about that right now. She softly put her hands on the other’s face, smiled at her even though she didn’t really feel like it. “It will be fine. I promise.”  
It had to be fine. Just as she said, they made their way downstairs, Sena more or less between them and any wall they could find, Saeko slightly behind Beni and the Guard in front of them. She grabbed Beni’s hat just before they reached the lower floors, pulled it down and headed for one of the rooms where Beni just pushed open the door and let out a whistle.  
“Hey sweetheart”, he called inside and the small girl jumped up from her spot. “Come on. We’ll go out for a while. You can change later.”  
With shaking legs, way too short skirt and way too large top, the girl came out of the room. At first Saeko could have mistaken her for a boy if it hadn’t been for that ridiculously long her and the cleavage under the misfit shirt. Saeko grabbed her shoulder, held her in front of her while walking over to the door where Yurika kept her belongings. Quickly she pulled out the drawer, grabbed her gun and the small pouch and followed Beni through the hall where the girls already started dancing again.  
“W-Where are we going?”, the girl asked, trying to throw a gaze over to Sena. Saeko pulled on her shoulder in order to make her look forward.  
“Going for a walk.”  
Outside, Saeko took the lead and took Sena’s wrist instead, pulled her through the alley over to her car where she made the small group get in. It was hardly enough space for them to sit, yet Beni sat on the seat beside her, Sena and the girl in the back and Saeko went over to take the wheel. As she started the car and left the street, minutes after they got away, she sighed in relieve.   
“That was close”, Beni said and became smaller in his seat.  
“Welcome to my everyday work”, Saeko grinned. “I usually come with more and leave with less people but I guess that’s okay.”  
“Ayaki?” The soft voice on the back made her look into the mirror. Sena looked worrying at her. “What happens now?”  
Saeko sighed and took a look over to her, Beni and the girl. Actually, she had no idea.  
“I’ll think of something. Give me a few minutes.”


End file.
